Tears of the Tropical Fish
by KawaiiTenshiCeres
Summary: "Until the day where my tears change into strength, I'll keep on walking without crying..." Okimoto Asahi is known to be a "genius" in the Iwatobi Art Club...except, she has a huge obsession with the ocean that makes her draw only sea creatures. When everything goes down the drain for her, she looks to find a new muse, which happens to be a boy from the Swim Team. OC x ?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I wrote this after wanting to do a Free! fanfiction for a very long time! However, problem is, I do adore Makoto, Rei, and Haru. So, I'm pretty indecisive on how will this turn out. So I made this a pretty open pairing. c:

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres, does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

熱帯魚の涙 _**/ Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish  
Chapter One – **__**Rewritten**_

* * *

夏が来るわ、夏が…  
_Summer is...coming...Summer is..._

With her eyes closed, sandaled feet were planted on the cement ground near the pier. Long, bleached, blond hair blew in the wind as music blasted into the teenage girl's ears. Before long, amber-colored eyes cracked open, staring at the ocean with a sad, reminiscent look. To her, the weather in this place was a lot different from her hometown of Hiroshima. It felt colder, yet it was a lot more quiet and peaceful here. It was..._relaxing_.

"_Oneechan~!_" a young boy shouted from afar. "_Come on, Obaachan is waitin' for us!_" he said, waving his arm up in the air.

Pulling the white earbud from her ear, the blond turned to her younger brother as a bright smile formed on her face. "Coming, Taiyou!" she replied, pulling out a pair of glasses from her shorts pocket and putting it on her face.

"_Eh... You're not wearing contacts again?_"  
"_Ha. I got lazy to put them on!_"  
"_Oneechan, you're always lazy!_"

Although the two of them came here a few weeks after school started, it was difficult to adjust to the quiet town compared to bustling city streets that they lived in. They were used to the bright city lights at night, constant sound of vehicles passing by them, and the humid weather of Hiroshima. Although they took the train to the city, it didn't have as many people, and have the same feeling compared to their hometown. However, for this sixteen year old, going here felt like she was starting fresh and new. To her…Everything from Hiroshima..._stayed_ in Hiroshima.

"Oi, Oneechan..._Oneechaaaaaan,_" the dark-haired boy said, waving a hand in front of his sister's face. "You're daydreamin' _again_," he huffed.

"E-Eh? N-No, I'm not!" she stuttered.

Looking down with a thoughtful look on her face, the teenager let out a long sigh, while listening to her younger brother talking about his day.

夏が来るわ、夏が…  
_Summer is...coming... Summer is..._

* * *

"_**That's**_ from the Art Club?!" "It's a lot different from last year that's for sure!"

It was lunchtime. People hovered around the posters hung up advertising for the Art Club. It was a watercolor of various sea creatures, with the sign _'JOIN THE ART CLUB!'_ over it. Nearby, the blond teen stood there in front of the windows with a few of the second year girls, while they were casually munching on their snacks and loafing around there.

"_Ooh_, people like what you did, Asahi-chan!" a girl with long black hair grinned, playfully nudging her.

Peering out from behind her glasses, Okimoto Asahi gave a nonchalant look towards her friend, and poked out her tongue. Regardless of how many compliments it got...To her, it was simply a last minute thing she did after watching a popular idol group video. It didn't feel original, just something she copied and got approved by the President by a heartbeat.

"Mii-chan~," Asahi whined, leaning on her friend. "I don't want to go to Art Club~. _Save meeeeee~_."

"Ha?! I'm not going to save you from that creepy president again," her friend, Satomi, cringed, recalling his attempts to flirt with her.

"Sheesh, you're going to make her cry if you keep rejecting her like that, Satomi," one of their classmates joked.

Pouting, Satomi eyed her friend. "Alright, you can hang out at the track _but-_"

She soon noticed a suspicious _smirk_ forming on Asahi's face, forming backing away from her and trying run off, avoiding her '_loving_' attempts to convince her ditch, causing the blond to run off after her.

The second years let out a sigh after seeing those two running down the hallways. After Asahi had transferred here, she was sitting next to ever-so blunt Satomi, but they were attached to each other since then. The little chase had gotten them to the rooftop, where the dark-haired second year rushed through the door, with no signs of her blond friend behind her.

Looking around, the teen spotted four boys sitting there, casually talking with each other, and eating their lunches. One of them she recognized on the spot, as a huge Cheshire smile formed on her face. It was her former track teammate and current classmate, Ryugazaki Rei, who had quitted during their first year to join the Swim Club.

"Ah! Rei-kun! Lemme hide here!" Satomi demanded.

"H-Huh? Ni-Nishikido-san!" the blue-haired male stuttered, watching the raven-haired girl, quickly curling up between him and his dark-haired upperclassman.

Her brown eyes kept looking at the door intently, causing the other members of the Swim Club to look at her questionably. She was nervous, looking like just any sort of thing can scare her at any second.

"Sheesh. Is Okimoto-san chasing after you again?" Rei questioned, quirking an eyebrow to his former track club teammate.

"She wants me to ditch practice just so she can skip Art Club," Satomi retorted, pressing her back against the wall. "Sera-senpai is being strict with attendance this time around, you know?"

"You two looked like you get along really well, since she transferred here!" their blond-haired classmate remarked with a smile.

"Oh, please, Nagisa-kun. My own boyfriend thinks we're like kid sisters. He thinks it's cute, since we call each other '_Mii-chan_' and '_Hii-chan_'," the girl noted sarcastically, poking out her tongue.

An exhausted Asahi wandered in, scanning the area while trying to catch her breath. She pulled off her glasses and let out a sigh, pushing back her side swept bangs. Satomi looked at them, wanting them to distract her friend so she could make an escape. An imaginary light bulb quickly formed over Nagisa's head. He quickly pulled the taller brunette with him towards the girl, giving a sign to Satomi for her to leave, as slowly inched towards the stairwell doorway, trying to avoid her friend.

"Asahi-chan!" Nagisa hollered.

"Eh?" the girl blinked, looking at the two.

"Mako-chan here said he thinks you're cute, and wants to ask you out on a date!" Nagisa said brightly.

"Na-Nagisa?!" "Eh? '_Mako-chan_'...?"

Asahi looked at the towering male before her, inspecting him thoughtfully from head-to-toe. Tachibana Makoto, the Iwatobi Swim Team's captain. Brown hair, green eyes...Yet, compared to his height, she felt extremely awkward being around him, than impressed. With him being a towering 183 cm and her being a mere 157 cm, the difference was a bit much. He was smiling at her nervously, making her quirk her head at her fellow second year, thoughtfully.

"You're being weird, Hazuki-san. He looks like the type who can attract a lot of girls!" Asahi laughed. "Besides! I'm not interested in dating anyone until after high school~," she said proudly, with a cocky grin on her face.

"Eh~ You don't think he's _cute_, Asahi-chan?" Nagisa questioned, nudging her, before pointing her body towards his other two friends. "What about Haru-chan?"

"Haru-chan...?" she questioned, glancing at the poker-faced male, who looked away from her with a pouty look on his handsome face.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Satomi barely reaching the stairwell door, making the girl shout out her name. Asahi quickly made a dash after her, making her friend rush down the stairs. The four of them stared at the opened door long after the two of them had gone away.

"Well...they were interesting," Makoto said with a confused smile, as he slowly walked back to his place in their little circle. "Right, Haru?"

Gazing at his friend, the brunette noticed his childhood friend muttered a 'Yeah', underneath his breath, before eating his mackerel and rice lunch once more.

* * *

どうしてでしょうか？_  
Why is this happening?_

思い出すわ  
_I remember…_

夏になるとあなたを  
_When it is summer, it's about you..._

"...Good job today!"

The four members of the Swim Team had just finished their practice in the Iwatobi Swimming Club. They had just finished changing, and waved 'Bye' to the owner, Sasebe Goro, who had let them practice in the indoor pool. The sun was slowly setting, and they were about to part ways from each other to go home.

"I'll see you tomorrow~!" Nagisa chirped, waving his hand up in the air, while walking in the same direction with Rei to the train station.

While Makoto had waved to his underclassmen, Haruka was looking at something in particular while they were walking home. His eyebrows furrowed at the sight of a crying Satomi, while Asahi was comforting her and a young man was standing away from them, holding his red cheek. From what Satomi had said earlier...they were going to assume that this young man was Satomi's boyfriend.

"_YOU IDIOT!_" Asahi barked, glaring at the other teen. "Why'd you do have to that to her?!" she shouted.

They had to walk into this situation.

"_Hii-chan_..." the dark-haired girl muttered.

"_...Wait for me._"

A familiar voice had echoed in her head. It made her heart ache. Tears formed in Asahi's eyes, with her hand slowly formed into a fist. She wanted to hurt this guy so much for hurting Satomi.

Slowly walking towards him, the blond was about to hit him, only to feel a strong hand gripping her wrist. Her amber eyes were filled with tears, and Asahi forced herself to look up at the swimmer who stopped her. She stared at Haruka's eyes, his face didn't bother changing in front of her. Why...did he _stop _her? He could've...just _let_ her... Haruka quickly dropped her hand, glancing over to see Makoto approaching the three of them.

"...You shouldn't have done that, Senpai," the blond muttered. "That guy...had the nerve to hurt Mii-chan,"

Waving his hands in front of his face, Satomi's boyfriend quickly shook his head. "...She was going to hang out with you so I _thought-_"

"Then what is she to you then?" Asahi barked. "Why were you so close to this 'Nao-chan' then?! Why did she call you, 'Kazu-kun~' in such a way?"

Satomi looked like she was about to step in to stop her. This was hurting her only friend more than she thought. Pushing back her hair, the blond couldn't help, but to frown. She needed to calm down. The young man wasn't _him_. He wasn't close to being _him_.

"Never mind," she muttered childishly. "...I'm going home,"

"_Asa-_" Satomi called out, watching her friend walk away from her.

"A-Ah! We'll walk her home instead!" Makoto spoke up with a smile looking at the concerned girl. "R-Right, Haru?"

Haruka stared at the lonesome Asahi thoughtfully. She had pulled off her glasses, had her music playing in her ears, and was already far away from them.

"She'll be fine," the swimmer said, while his best friend continued to watch her.

It was going to be a long walk home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **I apologize if these chapters will feel vague and confusing. They'll clear up over time.

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

熱帯魚の涙 **_/ Nettaigyo no Namida / __Tears of the Tropical Fish  
Chapter Two_**

* * *

"..._I'm sorry...I'm...probably not going to school today again,_"

Satomi let out a sigh, as she was walking home from school after finishing practice. It was a week ever since that little incident with her and her boyfriend had happened. Although it only had taken some proper talking to get things sorted out, Satomi was more concerned about what had happened to Asahi after what had happened. Sure, her and Kazuya had gotten into bitter spats, and Asahi would just speak up, but this was the first time she actually had gotten _violent_ with him.

She had forgotten where her actual house _was_ however, only being there once. The obvious choice would have been to simply ask Asahi herself, but she hasn't been answering her phone for the past twenty minutes.

"Ah! Satomi-chan!" Nagisa called out to her, approaching her.

"Oh, Nagisa-kun," she smiled, bowing to him, and lightly waving to the other members of the Swim Club, who was with him. "Eh? Are you guys going home from practice?" she questioned.

"We're heading to Haru-chan's house!" the blond teen chirped.

"W-We were?" Rei questioned staring at his classmate. "I thought we wer-"

"_Play along,_" he whispered.

Raising an eyebrow at the two, Satomi simply smiled at them. "Ah,I'm heading over to Hii-chan's place...You know...since she hasn't been in school for a week," she nodded.

"Did she get sick, or something?" Makoto questioned, looking at her with some concern in his eyes.

"S-Sort of..." she stuttered looking away. "She didn't look too good after what had happened last week, so... Yeah,"

It was a bad feeling that she had. Satomi was hoping that it was simply her being _sick_ and nothing drastic had happened to her.

"Ah! Satomi-neechan!" a young boy called out to her. "Why are you around here? I thought your house was the other way,"

"Taiyou-kun!" she said.

Golden eyes batted at the sight of the Swim Club as he clung onto the girl tightly with an uneasy look on his face. He was thinking they were some shady bunch of boys that she was hanging out with.

"Geh. Is one of these guys, your boyfriend?" he questioned.

"Bzzt! One of the boys behind me is your Oneechan's boyfriend! Satomi-chan wanted to bring him to see her, but she got lost!" Nagisa chimed in with a cheerful smile, as the other members of the Swim Club stared at him with a shocked and confused look on their faces.

The elementary school kid blinked several times, as he gave them a death glare.

"Ahaha! _No seriously, I'm worried about her, just ignore him..._" Satomi whispered, pushing the boy to lead the way, as Nagisa looked at the others to follow as well.

..._Eh?_

Asahi wasn't in her room when they had arrived. Satomi looked around, only to see a painting she never saw before sitting out in the balcony: a painting of the deep sea...with absolutely nothing in it. It looked dark and empty, without any signs of life in there, with the 'surface' in the very corner of the canvas. Of course, Satomi had never understood Asahi's personal art, other than it '_expressed_' how she felt at the moment...Or that's how the Art Club had explained it.

Taiyou had excused himself after his grandmother had called him, while everyone else either sat down or snooped around her room, without trying to pry into anything too much.

"Oh? A wedding invitation!" Nagisa spoke up.

On her desk was a fancy card, and in fancy lettering it says '_Akihiro and Sayomi request the honor of your presence at their marriage... _'. Quirking an eyebrow, Satomi looked at the picture of the couple, thoughtfully, before realizing the invite was sent from Tokyo.

* * *

"...You're here again? This is the third time, this week, Asahi-chan!"

Sitting on the bed, eyes staring at a glass tank filled with jellyfish, was Asahi. She had a facemask on, along with some plain sweats and a t-shirt. All she was doing was gazing at the jellyfish floating in the large tank with a calm look on her face. Behind her was an older man with scruffy brown hair, and gray eyes, who leaned on the doorframe with a questionable look on his face.

"Y'know...Grandma isn't going to like it when you're out of bed like that," he remarked. "...Did something happen?"

Looking at him thoughtfully, Asahi simply shrugged.

"...Why...? Does it _look_ like something happened?" she questioned sarcastically, with a tiny huff.

"From what I remembered... My brother always told me that you always called your '_beloved uncle_' when he and his wife scolded you, or you'd sneak off to the aquarium, just so you could see the '_pretty fishes_', whenever you felt sad," her uncle remarked with a grin.

"...But they're so calming, I can't help it," she grumbled.

"Anyways, be happy I had to take care of the jellyfishes for work today. You adore those, don't you?" he questioned. "I'll be heading back to work soon, so tell Suzu when you're leaving,"

The blond casually saluted to him as her uncle left, and plopped down onto the bed, staring at the jellyfishes with a dreamy look on her face. She pulled out her cell phone and checked it. Other than some missed calls from Satomi, she was looking for any other new messages. _Nothing_.

Her eyes stared at the tank once more, before taking a picture of it and sending an e-mail.

_'Do you remember?'_

* * *

"...Why are you guys here?"

Asahi stared at the people snooping around her room, as she slowly pulled down her face mask and politely nodded to them. Her younger brother had slowly in behind her, balancing the tray of Oolong tea and snacks that their grandmother had prepared for them.

"Taiyou! You didn't need to do that!" the older Okimura child scolded. "I could've done that!"

"Eh~ I wanna confirm which one of these guys is Neechan's boyfriend," he retorted sarcastically, looking at the Swim Team thoughtfully. "Ah, Neechan, you have '_good_' tast-"

Covering his mouth, Asahi looked away, her face quickly turning bright red. "They're tagging along with Mii-chan, now stop it," she grumbled.

"Ah! You're blushing, Neechan!" the boy laughed, prying his sister's hand off of his mouth, before looking over to Haruka. "He's cool! Maybe him? Or this super tall Oniichan with the brown hair!"

Before she said anything else, Asahi had heard her cell phone ringing in her pocket. She quickly excused herself, and had walked out into the balcony to answer it. As soon as she left the room, however, her younger brother simply furrowed his eyebrows, and a slightly annoyed look formed on his face.

"You know, this whole time she was '_sick_', Neechan was attached to her phone, even while we were eating dinner," he muttered.

Satomi blinked at Taiyou's little remark, before kneeling down at his level. "...Taiyou-kun...Do you know anyone is getting married anytime soon?" she questioned.

"Hah?!" he quirked an eyebrow.

"You know! Has she been so worried about becoming pretty for going to that shindig, like getting a dress or-"

Furrowing his eyebrows at Nagisa, Taiyou quirked his head at him. "Neechan...usually does those things at the last minute," he said. "She wasn't like this last year, she was always wearing makeup and wore stylish clothing, since she was trying to impress someone though,"

As Nagisa and Satomi kept interrogating the boy, with Makoto and Rei trying to pry them away from him, Haruka had slowly stepped out into the balcony where Asahi was at. She had just hung up from the call, and had a worried look on her face. She rested her head on the railing and closed her eyes.

"Did something happen?" Haruka said nonchalantly.

Asahi stopped in her place, and looked up at the swimmer with a surprised look on her face. He was last person she had expected to come out and talk to her... She didn't know what to say to him. Her face began to heat up at the sight of him, and a smile formed on her face.

"A-Ahaha!" she laughed nervously, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Nothing! It's absolutely nothing! I will be a-okay!" she lied, keeping a bright smile on her face, placing down her phone on the wooden railing.

Asahi only had met him a week ago...So what was he to her? He was an absolute stranger to her. A _stranger._ She quickly came to the realization she looked dumb after her not-so-obvious lie and dumb laughing was fake. Her heart was hurting a lot right now after what had happened. She couldn't breathe. She _needed_ to be alone right now. She...didn't feel right saying anything in front of him.

"S-Sorry... I'll be right back," Asahi nodded, quickly turning away from the clueless Haruka and headed back inside, leaving her phone out in the open.

Staring at the lone smart phone, Haruka realized that the screen was still lit up with the new messages from a person nicknamed ' _Dawn_ ' . On the lock screen, it had a dark-haired Asahi with another girl doing a weird face. Messages kept popping up on the screen by the same person, and Haruka couldn't help, but to pick up her cell phone to look at it.

'_I'll call back when I'm not busy._'

'..._You're not crying, are you?_'

'..._It wasn't my fault!_'

What...exactly _happened_? Haruka quickly walked back inside, only to see his friends looked at him questionably.

"...Where did Asahi go...?" he questioned furrowing his eyebrows.

"Eh? She said she had to do something for her grandma...But-"

Walking out the door, there was faint sniffing coming from down the hall. Before Haruka had walked down the hallway, his eyes stared at the figure sliding the door open.

"_...Are you alright?_" a voice questioned.

"_Makoto...senpai...?_" Asahi whispered.

Slowly heading down the hallway, Haruka peeked inside the tatami mat room. Asahi was sitting in front of a large tank filled with colorful fishes, while kneeling in front of her was Makoto, smiling at her. She had tears in her eyes, as he gently patted her head. She reluctantly looked away from him with a childish look on her face.

"I'll...I'll be fine!" she said with that same 'smile' on her face. "I like this time alone...Especially looking at the fishes..." she pouted looking away from him.

A sigh escaped Makoto's lips, as he gently tusled her hair. "...You're going to sound like Haru, if you keep acting stubborn like that," he replied.

"_Haha. You're very stubborn, aren't you, Asahi-chan?_"

Asahi froze in her spot and gently touched Makoto's hand that was in her hair. Her blood turned cold just as she looked at up at the swimmer. Their eyes were the same. Those _kind, emerald green_ eyes. She took his hand and held it lightly...His hand...didn't feel the same. They weren't the same _person_...She was thinking too much over this.

Slumping over, the blond let out a sigh. She looked at him thoughtfully and released his hand.

"I'm sorry...I'm just...having a horrible week..." Asahi muttered, pushing back her hair.

"N-No, it's fine," he smiled sheepishly at her.

A grin formed on her face as she lightly nudged him. "Though, you're a good person, Senpai," she laughed. "You're going to make a very lucky person, pretty happy someday," she nodded.

"E-Eh?" he stuttered.

"They'll be happy to have someone as caring and responsible like you," she replied giving him a thumbs up, as she got up.

When she tried to walk out the door, she saw Haruka blocking the door. She froze and looked at him oddly. She only gave him a smile, and tried to move past him, and into the hallway, she felt his hand on her shoulder. Something felt off. Her eyes looked at him, only to see her phone in his possession, with the messages popping up on the lock screen.

"...Who's '_Dawn_'?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

_熱帯魚の涙 **_/ Nettaigyo no Namida / __Tears of the Tropical Fish  
Chapter Three_**_

* * *

"_Who's 'Dawn'?_"

Staring at Haruka, Asahi bit her lip, as she quickly tried to grab her phone from him. He quickly raised the phone in the air, and the difference in height made it obvious that she was a tad bit _too_ short to grab it from him. She let out a sigh, and only glared him.

"...Isn't it obvious?...It's that time of day before the sun rises..." she remarked sarcastically.

Makoto stared at her blankly, before her phone rang. It was the same person. Asahi quickly tried to grab her phone from Haruka, only to see the _'Answer'_ button being pushed on the touch screen. Her face quickly turned dark at the sight at the speaker button being activated, much to the other two's confusion.

"_OH. IF I CALL YOU FROM THIS NUMBER, YOU DO ANSWER! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID, ASAHI, AND I WILL HURT YOU FOR IT, YOU DUMB BIT-_"

Haruka had quickly hung up before anything else had been said. It was a female voice who was on the other line. She sounded angry and obviously had a huge grudge against the teen... Asahi stared at the swimmers, her face no longer having that smile. She pulled off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose in thought. Where was she going to start with this one...? It was difficult to explain this without making this so complicated, and she couldn't weasel her way out of this one.

The blond bit her lip before looking at them with a thoughtful look on her face.

"You know my name has the kanji meaning '_Morning Sun_' right?...'_Dawn_'...is someone who has the kanji of '_Dawn_' or '_Daybreak_' in their name...They're a...very good '_friend_' of mine, " Asahi explain with a tiny nod. "If it isn't so obvious, '_Dawn_' isn't that girl, just someone connected to her,"

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

Footsteps were approaching them. Closing her eyes, Asahi smiled to them, as she held out her hand, looking at Haruka giving a look to give her phone back before that girl had called again. He glared at her, and reluctantly placing her phone back into her hand. The door slid open to see Taiyou out of breath, looking at his sister with a worried look on his face.

"Oneechan! What were you doing?" he said, with a huff. "Especially since you were alone with..._those two_..." he glared, childishly.

Makoto walked over and smiled at the boy and patted his head. "Your Oneechan needed some help with something, don't worry," he said.

"I'm fine Taiyou," Asahi smiled. "You still didn't do your homework right? You can ask Rei-kun to help you with it. He's super smart after all! A lot better than this dumb sister of yours!" she said with a huge grin on her face.

Taiyou's bright eyes slowly widened at his sister's remark, as he quickly rushed out of the room to get his homework. The pair stared at Asahi, who gave them a catty smile and a peace sign in return.

"...Is it okay to say things like that?" Makoto sighed. "You shouldn't put yourself down like that,"

"Taiyou has his reasons. I've done stupid things in the past, and I've been called '_stupid_' for it...He wants to protect his only sister. Though, I know when to draw the line," she said bluntly, motioning them to follow her back to the others.

"...I just don't want him to see me crying over _**a guy **_again,"

* * *

Summer had begun.

"_Drownin' away from the start to the end_  
_And you're sailing away and nowhere else to strain...  
__Come and take my all away  
__So far away from the start to the end  
__And everything seems so veiled and blue  
__Run away, sail away..._"

Asahi leaned on the wall and stared at her sketchbook. It was the same thing. Again and again. Ever since that day, it was difficult to come up with something new. What was wrong with her? Every time she presented something to the Art Club...They would point out something was _off_ with it, compared to when she had first transferred here.

"_Dumb president_," she huffed, pressing the '_Next_' arrow on her mp3 player, and getting out of her desk.

It was no use trying to get stuck, Asahi knew she was better off finding a place to get inspiration somehow...Although, her uncle wouldn't approve of her sticking around the aquarium all day, and being near the pier would cause trouble to the fishermen. She needed a new place to go look at.

"Oh! Okimoto-san!" a female voice called out to her.

The blond looked back, and she froze to see a smiling brunette holding a stack of notebooks. It was her classic literature teacher. Shoot. She didn't want to do any favors for her at the moment... Especially since she had gotten in trouble with her the other day.

"A-Amakata-sensei!" she replied, faking a smile.

"Glad that you're still here," the brunette chirped. "I need to go advise the Swim Team today, so could you please bring this to the reference room? I know Kawashima-sensei is still in there," she nodded.

"Ha..." Asahi groaned, as she took the stack from her.

Watching the sensei lightly pat the stack of notebooks, and waving goodbye at her, Asahi bowed at her before heading to the reference room. She should've simply darted away and just let that woman go by hers- Wait. _Swim Team_. Asahi could simply watch those guys swi-

"What am I, some lewd pervert?" she whined to herself as she continued down the hallway. '_Like hell I'm going to watch those half-naked guys and get inspiration from that!_'

* * *

She was going to slap herself for doing this. She could just do this tomorrow, but...

"_Ah! Okimoto-san, can you tell Amakata-sensei that she needs to get these sometime today or tomorrow? I know it's a pain to have you run back and forth, but she's so busy these days,_"

It was weird going up to the pool here. She never explored this part of school, even with Satomi. Going up the steps, Asahi looked at the sun still high up in the sky. There, she saw Amakata-sensei holding a parasol, a red-headed girl holding a clipboard, and all she could hear was the sounds of the water. By the looks of things, they were swimming laps.

"U-Uhm. Amakata-sensei?" Asahi spoke up.

"Oh, it's Okimoto-san," she smiled.

"Okimoto-san...?" the red-headed girl questioned, looking at her thoughtfully. "Ah! Asahi-chan!"

Asahi blinked a few times, before she politely bowed at her fellow second year, Matsuoka Gou. She only said hi to her a few times, but mainly Satomi knew her and her friend, Chigusa. They've hung out a few times on occasion, but she never knew that she was the manager of the Swim Team until now. Well, she felt behind on the times.

"Eh, you're the manager, Gou-chan...?" the blond questioned, blinking a few times.

"Y-Yes," she nodded.

"AH! Asahi-chan!" Nagisa called out, popping his head out from the pool, his eyes were covered with the colored swimming goggles. "What are you doing here?" he questioned, getting out of the pool.

Yup. She was here at a bad time. The girl froze, trying to not look at the half-naked swimmer, as she quickly looked over at Amakata-sensei.

"S-Sensei! K-Kawashima-sensei wanted me to tell you to pick up something at the r-reference room before you l-leave today!" the teen stuttered.

"Of course. I guess, I'll do it right now," the older woman nodded, as she got up to head back into the main building. "Thank you,"

Asahi quietly smiled at the teacher, and waved to Gou. She had to get out of there. Sure, she was fine talking to the Swim Team...when they were fully dressed. Half-naked guys when they were wet...it was impossible for her. She was going to turn into a blushing mess. She never got close to anything like that...except for _that guy_, but that was a while back, and that didn't turn out so pretty.

She felt awkward with them now... She took a few steps back to go back into the main building, before a hand grabbed her wrist, and the blond was dragged back to the poolside. Yup. She should've just ran.

"I-It's okay! I...I don't really belong here!" she whined.

"Eh? You know it's fine to hang out here, we were just finishing u-"

"You're not finished, Nagisa-kun!" Gou scolded, pointing to the other members of the Swim Team who were still swimming laps. "B-But, it's fine to hang out here, Asahi-chan," she nodded, looking at the girl with a sheepish smile on her face.

Watching the other boys swim, Asahi got close to the pool, and stared at the pool with an absent look on her face. She felt like she was at an open-air water show, except replace the sea creatures with these guys. Could she get anything out of this? _Probabl-_

"Heads up!" Nagisa called out as he finished his 'breather'.

Gou quickly backed away from the pool, shielding her eyes, while Nagisa dove back in making a huge splash, leaving the dazed blond soaked from head to toe. She pushed back her wet hair, and let out a huge sigh, only to see a blushing Rei scolding Nagisa, while Haruka tried his best to not look at her...Was something the matter?

Makoto quickly emerged from the pool, and held her hand, leading her back to the changing room.

"H-Hey! I-It's not that bad!" Asahi protested.

The taller brunette had pulled an extra towel out, handing it to her, trying to not look at her. His face was bright red, and he didn't want to say anything to her. Near by them was a mirror, and the blond slowly approached it, while drying her hair. Her soaked white shirt became transparent...They saw that hint of light blue that was underneath it...

Asahi covered her face with the towel, before slowly kneeling down, feeling her face turning hot. This was terrible. On her shoulders, she felt something covering her, a large white sports jacket. She assumed it was Makoto's.

"I...I didn't look. I promise," Makoto stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't want people staring at you looking like this when you leave school," he said softly, finally looking at her.

A tiny bashful smile formed on her face, and she watched him mirror that smile in front of her. She quickly covered her face with the towel, and gently smacked his arm. Why was it different compared to the other day? She didn't feel _this_ shy with Makoto compared to back when she saw him back at her house. Was it because he was simply _kind_ to her?

Her amber-colored eyes looked at him straight in the eye and a shy, stubborn look formed on her face.

"You said you wouldn't look, you liar,"


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

_熱帯魚の涙_**_ / Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish_**

**_Chapter Four_**

* * *

_'Dawn' once told me..._  
_"Scents can easily make you remember any sort of memories," _  
_Makoto-senpai had a distinct scent that stuck on me long after I took off that jacket. _  
_It reminded me of that day, whenever I got close to him._

"My future career path...?"

Asahi stared at the piece of paper in front of her before letting out a sigh. She had to turn this thing in to her homeroom teacher before the end of this week... She...really didn't want to fill this out. It was after school, and Asahi was alone for today. Pulling out her phone, she began to go to her contacts section. Her hand slowly went to Dawn's contact name, wanting to call them for advice, only to remember the female voice from the other line who had cursed her out the other. Instead, she began to fill out the paper, writing down what had came into mind.

"Asahi-chan! Are you going to an Art School for college?" one of her classmates spoke up, as he turned around from his chair.

It was someone from the Art Club.

"...A-Ah..." she looked up from her paper, hiding it from him.

"The President was hoping you were," he said, rocking his chair back and forth, trying to sneak a peek. "Even with that dumb 'artist block' of yours, he still thinks you can be the Club President next year," he remarked.

_How annoying._

"O-Oh, really?...Hm, _maybe_~," the girl muttered, with a playful smile.

"Great," he grinned at her. "He'll be happy to hear about it,"

_I need to scream._

Getting up, Asahi picked up the piece of paper, and wandered outside. She said she was going to think about this a bit more outside of the classroom...But instead she needed to vent out her feelings somewhere quiet. In reality, she knew what she wanted, but... Was people really going to expect her to continue this whole thing forever?

Passing by the teacher's room, Asahi couldn't hear the door opening. Someone had quickly stepped out, bumping into her. Papers flew into the air, as the blond saw something flying into her face. A career path paper, which was mostly blank with very little writing. On it, she could only see the '_Other_' section being filled out as '_Free_', while it slowly floated down to the floor.

"Eh?" Asahi blinked.

"Are you alright?" the familiar voice sighed.

"Yeah, I'm- _Eh_?!" she squealed as the blond quickly got to her feet.

It was Haruka. Her mouth slowly opened to say something to him, only to watch the other teen quickly grab his paper and walk off. She...wanted to know why he wrote that. But it felt strange to pry into something as personal as that. No one else was here. She didn't want to be scolded by a teacher. After picking up her paper, Asahi slowly began to run after hi-

"Tch-" the girl winced.

_Ignore the pain._

The artist chewed on her lip, keeping that thought in her head. Instead, her eyes began to look around, wondering where did the swimmer actually go off to, knowing that he was probably meeting up with Makoto. Were they in the third year section? Or were they going to the pool?

_I...still need to give back his jacket..._ the blond thought to herself.

Yet, she had to attend Art Club after they had a brief 'hiatus' after the upperclassmen had some work to do for an upcoming contest. She could try to meet him...Somehow. Maybe.

* * *

"Eh...Maybe I have to wait until tomorrow?"

Running towards the sports club rooms, Asahi held a bag close to her. She was approaching the room labelled, 'Swim Club' and heard faint voices coming from it. A smile formed on her face, knowing she had a chance. Alright. She can make it! She really can make it! She can-

_Thud._

The door quickly flew open, right into the blond's face. Her face began to sting. Her body slowly fell backwards, as everything slowly turned dark.

"_Ah! Asahi-chan!_" "_Eh?! That was Asahi-chan?_" "_Was she running here?_"

..._Asahi._

A voice called out to her.

Her eyes slowly opened...to see a pair of _green eyes _looking over her. Closing it once more, Asahi let herself rest. She felt sore. What was it? This scenario felt familiar to her. That warm, gentle touch on her forehead. If she opened her eyes...would it be the same thing?

_Asahi... Come on, get up, Sunshine. You need to get up._

Her eyes slowly opened once more to the sight of black hair... Green eyes... Black hair... Those two together... Meant that..._Nah. Couldn't be_.

Turning over, the blond opened her eyes. Everything felt blurry without her glasses. Asahi's eyes stared up at the figured staring at the tank, while sitting on the bed. She knew was in her uncle's house, that was for sure. However, the sight felt nostalgic for her. She didn't see his eyes, but a tiny reminiscent smile formed on her face.

"..._Aki..._" she said softly.

"...Aki?" he echoed, looking down at her questionably.

Her eyes noticed the blue hues looking at her, slowly realizing it was Haruka sitting next to her. She froze up for a moment, before quickly sitting up, covering her mouth and quickly bowing in front of him as a way to apologize to him.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she shouted.

The swimmer quickly turned away and stared at the tank. She didn't know how long he was sitting here...Or even how long she was 'asleep' for. She couldn't question him about it. Instead, she looked at the tank with him, staring at the jellyfishes with a smile on her face.

"My uncle works at the aquarium in the city. That's why he has these," Asahi said softly."There's so peaceful to look at right?"

"...Yeah,"

"...I always come here whenever something is wrong," she smiled. "Then again, I always _adored_ jellyfishes..especially the golden jellyfishes. They don't have them around here, however. They're isolated in their own lake in a country called 'Palau', but people can swim with them. I wanna go just to swim with them, but..."

Haruka looked Asahi's dreamy expression over talking about the jellyfishes slowly turning dark. He gently touched her shoulder as she quickly looked at him with a forced smile on her face.

"I _can't_." she paused. "Though, Senpai, you can do it in my stead, right? _Right_?" the blond said, trying to cheer herself up.

"...Sure," he replied, nonchalantly. "But...Don't you know how to swim? We'll swim together and..."

Her eyes batted at his reply and her lips pulled up into a tiny smile. Asahi was only joking about it, not knowing he would actually respond or even take up on her little offer. It made her...happy. _Really _happy. Then again, when she thinks about it now, it reminded her too much about...

_Sure! We'll swim together and..._

They had different personalities. Completely different faces...and she was in a completely place. It wasn't right. She didn't want to compare them. It was _irritating _her until no end.

"N-No! I-It's okay!" Asahi shouted. "I'll be fine! I will be ab-so-lutely fine!"

...It was clear she was lying. Her face had shown she was more than just troubled. Though, her shouting had caused some footsteps coming into the room. There stood Makoto who looked at the pair. They weren't looking at each other, while Makoto approached his best friend, asking what had just happened.

* * *

_"Gyahaha. You really made her mad? She's a 'fish' too, being born on April 5th, y'know? "_

As Haruka and Makoto walked home, they were silent. The brunette looked at his best friend thoughtfully wondering what had happened with him and Asahi. Haruka had seen what she wrote on her future career path paper and was wondering if _that_ was the reason she said 'No' to his offer. It was a nice offer, plus it was involving the water. It was..._interesting_.

"...ru...Haru? Something wrong?" Makoto asked looking over at him.

"She was being weird." Haruka replied.

Furrowing his eyebrows, the swimming gave a confused smile at his best friend, wondering about what he was talking about.

"Weird? How?" he asked.

"...She called me '_Aki_' earlier,"

That name rung a bell...But _where_? Looking up at the orange sky, Makoto thought to himself for a bit before slowing down to a stop. He remembered what Asahi had said before.

" _**'****Dawn' **__is someone who has the kanji of '__**Dawn' **__or __**'Daybreak' **__in their name...They're...a very good **'friend' **__of mine."_

It couldn't be. He thought it was a coincidence. Yeah. It's just a _coincidence_.

* * *

It had begun to rain.

Sitting in front of her opened balcony door, Asahi was sketching something on her notebook with a pencil. Listening to the downpour, her eyes slowly closed...As she smelled the faint scent of freshly cut grass coming from her grandmother's backyard. She could easily remember that particular day when she was with Aki. Being out in the rain, laying on the grass...Tears coming out of her eyes...Her body unable to move.

"._..Asahi? Asahi! Are you okay?!_ "

Slowly placing down her pencil, Asahi looked at her finished sketch with a thoughtful look on her face.

It was a dolphin and a porpoise swimming together in a circle, surrounding a dark-haired, faceless merman.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

**Author's Note: **_This is actually a rewrite of Chapter Five, since the ending of this chapter has bothered me **too **much. _

* * *

_熱帯魚の涙_**_ / Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish_**

**_Chapter Five_**

* * *

"Huh,'_Aki_'?"

_**'Aki'** can be spelled out in many ways._

"No...She never told me about an '_Aki_'. Why do you ask?"

_The Season _「秋」. _The Sky_「空」. _Time_「明」. _Rejection_「厭」.

Satomi looked at her senpais thoughtfully, as she was about to head out to buy food. Her eyes blinked a few times before lightly nodding at the third years. Satomi was with her boyfriend instead of her best friend, and the blond was nowhere to be found in their classroom. There was a high chance she was in the Art Club Room, which was literally on the other side of the school.

"A-Ah...Nothing," Makoto smiled sheepishly, looking away from the suspicious second year.

"Don't tell me you're interested in Hii-chan," Satomi joked, nudging the much taller brunette.

Her eyes watched the male quickly waving his hands in front of his face, trying to deny it, causing her boyfriend to laugh at him. Satomi glanced over to his best friend, who was more silent, and looking more reluctant to even being here, before looking over at Makoto once more. Her face turned serious, slowly looking away from them with a guilty smile on her face.

"...Asahi is pretty secretive about these sorts of things. We're close, but she never said anything about her friends from back home," she noted with a nod. "She just told me some were great, others weren't, but they were like any other friends," Satomi shrugged.

"But, nothing about Aki-"

"Oh! Mako-chan, Haru-chan!" Nagisa called out to the two of them, as he approached the three of them holding a bag full of bread. "It's rare for you to be in the Second Years' section!"

This already felt awkward. Especially since Satomi didn't exactly converse with these three compared to Rei and Gou. She kept quiet for a bit while those three talked, thinking of a good way to leave.

"..._Well!_ If you want her number, I can give it to you," Satomi smiled brightly, beginning to walk away, quickly tugging on her boyfriend's hand. "Just hope she doesn't think you're creepy, okay?" she laughed, before turning away with a serious look forming on her face.

* * *

"_T__his person cannot answer their phone right now. Please..._ "

Again.

This was terrible. Pressing the red button on her smart phone, Asahi stared out past the train tracks and into the distance with a disappointed look on her face. All she wanted was a proper talk with him. Plugging the white earbud into her ear, the blond let out a long sigh. It was a weekend and she was heading into the city to go to the aquarium. She got onto the train and stood near the doors and listened to the song thoughtfully.

涙も悲しみも忘れて  
_Let's forget the tears and sadness_

歩いてこうBrighter day  
_And walk, brighter day_

君だけのStory心に  
_Write a story just for you_

つづってよNight and day  
_In your heart night and day_

_I'll be there for you, I'll be there for you_

After getting off her stop, Asahi was trying to recall what her uncle had told her where to go in the first place...Eventually, the blond had found herself looking at various stores, before noticing someone familiar coming out of a shop, holding something in their hands. Her eyes glanced up at the shop and the interior...A swimsuit specialty shop.

"Ah, Gou-san," Asahi called out.

"Oh! Asahi-chan!" the Swim Club manager smiled, slowly jogging to her with a bag in her hands.

"Is that for the Swim Club?" the blond questioned, trying to sneak a peek inside of the bag.

Raising up her bag, the red-head Matsuoka nodded to her cheerfully. Something felt off about that smile of hers. _Extremely _off. Asahi had a feeling she should just run for it before she could get herself into trouble with her.

"I'm actually working on a new diet for the club, so I bought some ingredients that might help them!" she said, her face beaming in pride. "Oh! I heard from Satomi-chan that you can make nice lunches, so if you're not busy, can...you please _help_ me...? Even if it's just for a little bit!"

Quickly clapping her hands in front of her face, Gou raised it above her head, hoping she would accept. Asahi kept looking back and forth from the bag to Gou. The blond didn't know what was _actually _in the bag, other than it was purchased in a freaking swimsuit specialty shop, and it was going to be put into a meal... She didn't get the other girl's mindset on this, other than it _might_ help them if they're going to some sort of tournament? But the only thing that came into mind was those performance-enhancing drugs that Asahi ends up hearing from tabloids.

Pushing back her locks, Asahi reluctantly nodded to Gou. She told herself not to seem so pessimistic and look on the brighter side.

"Sure. Lead the way," she said with a smile on her face.

The aquarium can wait..._Right?_

* * *

She should've went to the aquarium.

Peach-flavored protein, Chocolate-flavored protein... Staring at the various labelled packs, Asahi stood in the kitchen, reading the back of the packages thoughtfully, before looking over at Gou humming cheerfully while preparing the rice at the sink. She had followed the manager back to her house, but...How was this possible?! Even _she_ knew those guys were going to die if they ate this strange stuff in their food. Chewing on her lip, Asahi glanced at the redhead.

"Nee, Gou-san..."

"Hm?"

"...Are you going to fill the onigiri with only these?" she questioned, furrowing her eyebrows in concern.

"Yeah. Along with flavoring the omelette with it...We can add it to the fish as well, right?" Gou nodded. "I wanted to put a lot of protein in this so they could gain a lot muscle!" she chirped with a dreamy smile on her face.

_Muscle...? With this...?_

"You need to add some carbs, Gou-san! If you just add flat out protein, they won't have enough energy to work out more! They can't gain muscle this quickly from pure protein alone!" Asahi scolded, pinching the bridge of her nose tiredly. "They need a proper balance, especially you need to add veggies and fruits in there as well!"

The blond froze in her place, while the manager batted her eyes at her. Soon, Asahi's face quickly turned red, as she quickly shook her head and looked away. She had said a bit _too _much again.

"F-Forget it," her voice softened up. "A-Anyways! Let's just get started...What do you have in mind?" Asahi began with a smile.

Gou watched her sudden change in attitude with a worried look on her face. Something was up with her. Gently touching her shoulder, the redhead looked at Asahi thoughtfully.

"...Hey, Asahi-chan...How do you know those things?" she questioned with a thoughtful look on her face. "Were you a swim-"

"...No," she quickly replied, preparing the ingredients. "...I used to do something else for a long time. Somewhat similar. I'm thinking the diets are almost the same...Probably they're a lot different. So maybe a lot protein is better," she reluctantly nodded.

Nodding with her, Gou began opening the packages as they began to prepare the test lunches. However, Asahi was deep in thought. That was close. _Very_ close. It was difficult to open up to people about touchy subjects. Maybe...Maybe it was just her.

* * *

"Oh! Asahi-chan! You're back here again!"

Glancing at her uncle, the blond lightly smiled at her uncle, before looking at the jellyfishes once more. Long after she had gone back from Gou's house, she had stopped by her uncle's house. That talk with Haruka the other day had gotten her thinking really long and hard about her future. Gently touching the glass with her finger, her finger began to write 海月 on it, before slowly closing her eyes.

_"Eh? Why a jellyfish?"_

_Staring at the adult dark-haired male preparing food in the kitchen, he let out a hearty laugh, while he turned and looked at the dark-haired Asahi from behind his glasses. He set down his knife and wiped down his hands on his apron, leaning against the wall with a cocky on his face. _

_"If you wrote 'jellyfish' in kanji, what does it have?"_

_Pulling a pencil from his desk, Asahi quickly scribbled something on a piece of scratch paper. The kanji form of jellyfish_,「海月」. _Her eyes stared at him blankly, not knowing what was up with his logic. He scratched the back of his head nervously before kneeling down next to her and took the pencil from Asahi's hand, writing Asahi's name in kanji on the scratch paper. _

_"...Asahi has the kanji of the sun__,_「日」. _Kurage (jellyfish), has the kanji of the moon__, _「月」. _You both are polar opposites, especially with you looking like that. Though, you're alike in a lot of ways._ _You know Ebisu? He's often paired with jellyfishes, since he was born without bones. Yet, he still smiles through all the hardships he's been through. I know bad stuff happens to you...but you still smile while you try to overcome them, don't you?" he smiled, gently ruffling her hair._

_"What are you, a philosopher?" Asahi pouted, fixing her hair. "You remind me of a dolphin,"_

_The male quirked an eyebrow at her before letting out a large laugh, causing the girl to lightly playfully push him. _

_"...Sometimes... People are more than what they look like,"_

Her phone rang, snapping Asahi out of memory lane. Looking around her belongings, the blond fished her phone from out of her handbag, and looked at the screen.

Could it be...?

Wait. She didn't recognize this number at all. It can be a practical joke, but it also could be someone who was must have dialed the wrong number. Reluctantly pressing the green button on the touchscreen to answer it, Asahi placed the phone near her ear, and took a deep breath, hoping it wasn't anything terrible.

"H...Hello?"

"_Ah...__Asahi?_" a male voice questioned.

Blinking a few times, the blond felt her face turning red. How should she respond to this...?

"...Huh...She's not answering..."

Leaning back on his chair, green eyes stared at the picture frame near his laptop. It was a group of girls in front of a school. There, stood a grinning Asahi with those girls, holding a bouquet of sunflowers while wearing a costume. His eyes stared at the photo before closing his eyes. He remembered the sound of rain, and Asahi's face staring at the gray sky with a lifeless look on her face, tears falling from her eyes, while laying on the soaked grass. Her clothes were dirty from the mud, and all she could mutter to him was...

_"You liar."_


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **_I actually took a small break with this story... because I couldn't think of anything. Plus this chapter had to be re-written a few times. _

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

熱帯魚の涙 **_/ Nettaigyo no Namida / __Tears of the Tropical Fish  
Chapter Six_**

* * *

"Is that how you got my number?"

The Tachibana household. Standing in the front door, Asahi stared at Makoto thoughtfully, while he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. It was her brother's cell phone number, yet when she picked up, it was this person in front of her who called her. She didn't know why or how Taiyou's cell phone was _here_. All she remembered her brother saying was that he was going over to a friend's house to hang out... Never knew it had to be _this_ house.

"Well, you see..."

"What happened to Taiyou?" she demanded, jabbing his chest.

Asahi was getting straight to the point. She was bothered by this already. Extremely bothered. The swimmer had motioned her to head inside.

"He ended up falling asleep," he smiled sheepishly. "I didn't want to wake him, so I had to call you,"

Face palming at that little remark, the blond knew what she gotten herself into. Carrying her dear, fourth grade brother home. As she followed the taller teen down the hallway, she was greeted by that familiar scent that reminded her of that day at the pool. Before long, Makoto had opened the door, leading to what was technically his younger brother's room. There slept Taiyou and his younger brother on the bed, while his little sister was watching something.

"「海へ行きたい」って  
_"Let's go see the ocean,"  
_  
君が言い出すから  
_you suggested.  
_  
友達のままで  
_But what should we do,  
_  
海へ行って何をすればいい?  
_...at the sea, as friends? _"

A familiar voice could be heard. Asahi stopped in her place, and closed her eyes for a brief moment, slowly mouthing the lyrics as the video played.

"Ran, why are you in here?" he sighed.

"Eh? Taiyou-kun was showing this to Ren," his younger sister huffed. "Ran wanted to see this, too!" she whined.

As Makoto wandered over to his sister, Asahi knelt down to her brother who was napping next to the brown haired child. She gently patted on her the dark haired boy's hair, as he moved over to sleep on her lap, much to her dismay. She picked up the boy and held him in her arms, his head resting on her shoulder. A tiny smile formed on Asahi's face, before the swimmer looked over at her.

"Do you want me to carry him home for you?" he offered. "I-I mean! It's pretty dangerous out there since it's getting dark!"

Blinking at him at his sudden offer, Asahi's face slowly cracked into a tiny laugh.

"Heh~ You're a chivalrous one. Sure, since it'll be pretty awkward for me to carry him like this or on my back," she remarked with a catty smile on her face. "Ran-chan, don't you think your Oniichan is cool?" she grinned, looking over at the younger Tachibana girl.

The green haired girl looked up at her and smiled brightly at the blond, nodding at her, much to the young man's embarrassment.

* * *

"...When I saw him at my house, I didn't know he was from the baseball club or even friends with Ren,"

Asahi looked up at Makoto, while she listened to music on her mp3 player. Walking up the stone steps, the taller male was ahead of her, carrying the sleeping Taiyou on his back. That appearance of those two felt reminiscent to her, he looked like her father carrying Taiyou when he was younger. Of course, her father was now overseas, and Taiyou was a lot older now, but just seeing this made her smile.

"He only told me earlier today that he was going to 'Ren's house', never actually mentioned you," she sighed, rubbing her temples. "He probably felt a bit reassured that you were his older brother. Honestly, I never seen Taiyou go to his friends' house that much back in Hiroshima, it was the opposite. Then again, I was rarely home, so I could be wrong,"

Makoto looked at her with slight concern, before she looked back at him questionably.

"What? Don't give me that sad look," she laughed. "...He acts a lot older than me, but he's still was really a kid deep inside. I always called him '_Bukiyou Taiyou _(_Clumsy Taiyou) _', because he could never express his true feelings to everyone. Although, it makes me a bit of hypocrite since we're nearly alike,"

"Huh? But you seem like a responsible Oneechan, Asahi-chan," Makoto quickly spoke up, with a thoughtful look. "He said some nice things about you,"

A smile formed on her face, before she pushed back her hair, her eyes staring up into the sky with a reminiscent look.

"You know...That song that was playing at your house was also called '_Bukiyou Taiyou_'," she laughed. "...It's a nice song, you know?"

Makoto looked down at her, hearing her beginning to softly sing that song it to herself, while they were slowly approaching the house. For him, it felt like a warm, peaceful song. Yet, the way she sung it...Felt a bit _strange_. He didn't know what or why. Before long they were in front of her house, the sky was slowly darkening in the horizon, and the lights were slowly turning on outside the houses.

Turning and facing her upperclassman, Asahi politely bowed at the swimmer.

"Thanks for carrying Taiyou for me. He probably thinks you're our dad, that's why he seems to be clinging onto you so tightly," she remarked, trying to pry the elementary schooler off of Makoto's back and into her arms.

"I-It's no problem!" he replied, with a sheepish smile on his face.

The blond gently touched his arm, and smiled at him, leaving his face slowly turning bright red. It wasn't her usual cheery grin, that typically followed by a joke or a laugh from her.

"...Please be good to him from now on, Senpai," Asahi replied softly. "Me and my grandma might not be home as much...Same thing with my uncle. He might end up going to you and your family if he's lonely..." she noted with a tiny nod.

Before he could reply to her, Makoto had watched her turn away and quickly retreat into her home and closing the door behind her. He was speechless, and was even more curious about that song that he kept hearing. Why was it so important to the two of them?

* * *

"Ready? Jan-ken-pon!"

Staring at her losing hand, Asahi froze in her place, while watching Satomi smirk at her in victory. It was lunchtime and it was time to decide who gets to buy drinks for all the girls that were lounging around outside of the classroom. Of course, Asahi was the loser after it came down to the two best friends. As the blond walked to the vending machine in the courtyard, Gou had wandered down the stairs from the third floor, with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Ah! Gou-chan! You missed Hii-chan getting the drinks for us." Satomi smiled with a tiny wave.

The redhead nodded to the track team member, taking Asahi's spot standing next to her.

"I wanted to actually thank Asahi-chan for helping me back on Sunday," she muttered. "Is she going to be busy in a few weeks?"

"She has that art contest coming up doesn't she?" another girl spoke up, looking over at Gou. "She might not even emerge from her own house knowing how much '_inspiration_' she might need,"

"Oh right," Satomi groaned. "That dumb President is forcing her to do that. Probably she'll just draw fishes again, like she always does," she shrugged.

"But you know...She drew a merman with some porpoises the other day, when the Art Club was showing off their artwork. Do you think she has a crush on someone? It could be one of the boys from your Swim Club, Gou-chan!" one of the girls giggled.

The red head looked at them oddly, before slowly walking past them on her own. She had passed by Asahi who was more focused on trying to balance the amount of boxed juice and canned drinks in her arms, thinking which person was it. When she arrived at the Art Club, some members were outside, hanging up pictures that were recently made, while chatting amongst each other.

"Asahi-chan did a good job again," one of them remarked, as they hung up a orange hued painting. "Maybe we should have her submit this one,"

Gou's eyes stared at the tiny piece of paper that was underneath it, that read: "君がくれたもの / _What You Gave Me_".

It was a bit different from what her friends were describing. It look like a deep sea, with a faceless merman looking up at the top of the sea, and him extending his arm which showed the sun setting. Surrounding him were mainly jellyfishes while at the top were the more popular animals, but she noticed the porpoises that her friends were talking about, floating at the top near the surface. Gou tilted her head questionably at it, before hearing the art club members discussing it.

"She said she painted this whole thing on Sunday night," one of them remarked. "For a rushed painting...this is pretty good... I wonder what happened to her?"

Furrowing her eyebrows, Gou had to wonder about what happened with her as well after the girl left her. Meanwhile, with her friends, Asahi stood there, casually drinking her box of juice, while staring out into the sky. Her eyes slowly closed, with a song playing in her head.

"臆病太陽  
_A **cowardly** sun__._

近くに行ったら  
_With a feeling that__..._

大事な君まで  
_If I got close to you__..._

消えちゃいそうでだめだ  
_You might **disappear**__. __"_


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

熱帯魚の涙 **_/ Nettaigyo no Namida / __Tears of the Tropical Fish  
Chapter Seven_**

* * *

"_Eh. Asahi-chan's so good at drawing!_" "_She's like her Okaasan!_" "_Hey, Asahi-chan! Maybe you should go become a mangaka someday!"_

_An eight year old Asahi nervously smiled at the other kids, while she sat at her desk with a pencil in her hand. She had various drawings of anime characters in her notebook in various poses. She looked over to near the entrance of the classroom, who were in a circle, as they were huddled over a portable boombox, discussing a song, while others were practicing some moves. She blinked at them, before watching them quickly stand up to rehearse a dance. _

_She looked at her hands thoughtfully, softly mouthing the song lyrics as they sang the song out loud. Her eyes closed for a brief moment, feeling a bit nervous. Should she approach them? What if they reject her? She quickly looked away from them and back at her chatting classmates, staring blankly at her 'art'. She simply copied what she saw, or remembered how some these characters looked like and drew it like how the original artists did._

_Seeing the girls over there dancing and singing...Maybe...should be like one of them? Nah. It was probably a terrible idea. Yeah. A terrible idea._

"My bad, Gou-chan..."

Clapping her hands in front of her face, Asahi glanced at the sighing red head, looking at her fellow second year thoughtfully. It was after school, and the blond was at the pool area watching the Swim Team next to her friend. Tapping her in the head with a book, the Matsuoka girl stared at her with a blank look on her face.

"We really needed more people to cheer these guys on, you know?" Gou sighed, rubbing her temples. "It's fine. I heard about that contest, so it's fine if you're around here for at least today," she smiled.

Asahi nodded to her, before watching her friend walking towards the edge of the pool, barking orders at the boys. The artist smiled in amusement at the sight of it. She looked over at the row where Haruka was swimming in for a brief moment. Before long, however, the swimmer slowly came up to the surface, causing her to quickly look away from him, to avoid eye contact.

Quickly looking at her phone to try and make it look like a distraction, Asahi realized that her inbox had a new unread message in it. Opening it, she realized what it was: an email from her parents. They sent her random messages that she and Taiyou often read together, and it usually made the pair excited to read it... Yet, that particular message that was specifically addressed for her made her a bit worried.

As Haruka shook his head, getting the drops of water out of his dark locks, he watched the girl staring out into the distance, all while holding that _phone_ of hers. He didn't know why...But seeing her looking so concerned over that _phone..._felt annoying.

* * *

"...Asahi."

Practice was over. The guys were washing the chlorine off of them, while Asahi and Gou were talking to each other. Haruka had approached the girl, touching her shoulder without a second thought. She jumped back staring at the dark-haired swimmer with a shocked look on her face, clinging onto her fellow second year out of fear.

"Can we talk?"

His blunt attitude had made Asahi worried, and Gou looking quite concerned. She hesitantly nodded, following him to the other end of the pool. It was strange. She rarely talked to Haruka unless she actually called him out on something...Or possibly... No, it couldn't be about _him_. She hasn't talked about _him_ for the past few weeks that he would come up to her now and confront her.

"W-What is it?" she questioned, looking at the dark-haired swimmer with some hesitation.

"You were looking at your phone again," he remarked.

"_And?_"the blond huffed. "I like my phone. I don't really swim as a sport, so obviously...I can't just hang around here and just stare at you guys..."

Her hands were shaking while gripping her cell phone. She was a terrible liar after all. Haruka stared the girl down, causing her to slowly back away from him. He quickly grabbed her hand and snatched her cell phone away from her, without a second thought.

On the screen, a message from her father had appeared clearly into view:

'..._We want you get first place in the competition, Asahi. - Papa._'

Asahi's eyes stared at the phone's screen in horror, trying to avoid Haruka's gaze. She quickly tried to claw at the swimmer, hoping to get her phone back, only to see him quickly throwing it into the pool. She stood there for a moment, watching the electronic slowly sink into the bottom. Slumping down, the blond knelt down staring off into the distance, hearing Gou shouting at Haruka over what he just did, while the swimmer simply looked away from her with a pout on his face.

Her eyes closed for a moment, hearing that faint voice ringing in her head.

"_...Hello, Asahi, it's me! Do you miss me? Haha. I miss you too.I miss you __**a lot**__._"

Tears formed in her eyes. She wanted to cry. However, seeing the phone sink to the bottom...Deep down, why did she feel so... _relieved_ to see it disappear?

"..._I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Asahi. Can you __**forgive **__me?_"

Asahi was torn between wanting to get it...and simply just walking away. She quietly stood up, and began to walk off on her own, much to Gou's protesting for her to stay, hoping that Haruka would at least apologize to her. Before Asahi could touch the door knob, leading her way out, a hand quickly grabbed her shoulder, causing her to stop in her place. Already wearing his white swimming jacket, Haruka had swiftly dragged her into their club room before she could say anything.

...She was trapped.

"...Sorry," Haruka spoke up, breaking the silence between the two.

The blond looked up to see him, pouting like a small child in front of her. The artist had a small handful of remarks to quickly lash out at him...Instead, the second year looked down and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself. It was only just the two of them in this room. It was better for her to tell him, than to keep it a secret.

"Have you always liked swimming, Senpai?" she spoke up.

Her eyes stared at his thoughtful face as he looked up at her. A small reluctant smile formed on Asahi's face. They...probably have a similar mindset. Holding her wrist, Asahi dug her nails into her arm, feeling her heart dropping. It was going to be a lengthy explanation, yet she had told Haruka heavy things like this before. She didn't know why it had to be _him_ out of all people.

"_If in the morning I were to gain knowledge of the correct path, I would be able to die at sunset_," Asahi recited.

"My parents named me and Taiyou after that saying, hoping we would be like them when we're older. My parents...found out I'm going to be entered in an art competition. Instead of encouraging me to do my best, the only message they sent me was simply to win, knowing I'm like them," she explained, tilting her head off to the side with a small smile on her face. "Silly isn't it? I've been _sick _of doing art ever since elementary school, _yet_..."

Her grip on her arm tightened, feeling her nails digging deep into her skin. Asahi didn't want to cry in front of him. The uncanny resemblance was forcing her tears back. She didn't want him to pity her. Haruka looked at her, his eyes showing a bit of concern about her hesitation, waiting for the last of her sentence to come out of her mouth.

"...I _always_ wanted to..."

_Thud!_

The door quickly opened, with Gou standing in the doorway, holding Asahi's phone in her hands.

"Ah, Asahi-chan! I got your phone for you!" the Matsuoka girl beamed. "I had Makoto-senpai fish it out for you!"

The blond blinked her eyes, as she faced her friend thoughtfully, with the annoyed Haruka, glaring straight behind her. She bowed to her fellow second year, taking her phone from the other girl, with a sheepish look on her face.

"T-Thanks, Gou-chan. I-I'll talk to you later," Asahi stuttered, walking past her, and out the door.

Looking at Haruka thoughtfully, the coach waved a hand in front of the swimmer's face, curious about his now moody attitude. Everyone else had walked in, shortly after Asahi had left, noticing their friend's change in attitude, and the air became heavy in the club room.

"Haruka-senpai...?" she questioned.

"...It's nothing," he muttered, before heading over to his cubby to go get changed.

Glancing at his best friend, Makoto looked at him with a worried look on his face, before glancing at the doorway where Asahi had just left. He _knew_ something had happened between the two.

* * *

Slowing down to a stop, Asahi gripped her shoulder bag, and stared at her drying phone in her hand. Thank goodness for growing technology...Her smartphone was _waterproof_. Not much damage had occurred other that it slightly floated down to the bottom of the pool floor. However, she didn't know how long it was until Makoto had gotten it. It still could have been damaged.

Pressing the button, her eyes noticed something was up.

..._They **messed** with her phone. _

Her lock screen wallpaper was changed with Nagisa's picture on it, doing a weird face, with Rei laughing evilly in the background, while in the corner it had both of their names in hiragana. She assumed either Gou or Makoto had taken this picture, seeing what had happened earlier. Asahi stopped in her place, as she knelt down trying to hold back her laughter. Various people who passed by her, staring at the teenager, who was trying to contain her horrible laughing fit. Quickly getting up, the blond nervously cleared her throat, and began to powerwalk home. That...That was terrible, and embarrassing to say the least.

Yet...It really made her day.

_"We really needed more people to cheer these guys on, you know?" _

Asahi was hesitating. Now, she really wanted to see them compete. Yet...Why did their competition have to be the same day as her contest? Hearing Gou's voice chiming in her head and still thinking about her father's message from earlier...The girl was still torn between betraying her parents and her own club...and wanting to give into what _she_ really wanted.

While slowing down into a stop in front of the view of the water, Asahi stared out into sea, trying to collect her thoughts on this matter.

"_Hey. What are you going to do when you graduate?_"

_A smiling Asahi walked next to the older male, as he carried the bag of groceries. The sun was slowly setting over the horizon, as they were heading back to the apartment complex. The man's emerald colored eyes glanced at her for a brief moment, before he let out a long sigh._

_"...I want to do the same thing like I always do: Photography. I mean, your dad does photography too, right? Maybe that's why he was so lenient on making me your tutor. He kept bothering me to convince you to go back to doing art. I mean, those paintings you do were really nice," he laughed._

_Absently to him, Asahi stared out into the distance. They passed by some kids who were taking pictures of themselves after finishing practice. That same group was laughing together as they passed by the duo, walking home in the opposite direction. The look of it had kept her thinking. _

_"...Hey...do you even like photography?" she questioned._

_A thoughtful look formed on the male's face, as he looked at the teenager with a questionable look on his face. He gently placed his free hand into her hair, gently tussling her dark locks._

_"...If I hated it, then I would've quitted it a long time ago," he remarked, with a cocky smile. "...Then again I quitted a lot of things I liked, because of I had other priorities. You know... You seemed to love what you're doing right now. Even Miicha thinks so. Don't let your folks take advantage of what you think,"_

_A tiny embarrassed smile formed on Asahi's face. She lightly smacked the older male in the arm, while he simply laughed at her flustered attitude. Her eyes looked at him, before she cleared up her throat and grinned at him, trying to compose herself. _

_"...Thank you...Aki." _


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** I might rewrite the middle section, since I did have the most difficulties with it. And I do feel a bit unsatisfied with it.

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

熱帯魚の涙 **_/ Nettaigyo no Namida / __Tears of the Tropical Fish  
Chapter Eight_**

* * *

It was the day of the Prefecturals.

Standing in a gallery while wearing a short dress, Asahi stood there, trying to not look nervous. She had to dress up for this sort of occasion, wearing a pink dress and beige heels, her bangs pinned off to the side, and her face having a hint of light makeup. Although she was used to dressing up since her first year of high school, her main concern was showing up to that _other_ competition in this getup.

"You shouldn't be nervous, Okimoto-san!" the Art Club president laughed heartily, casually patting her shoulder.

"Shut up, Senpai!" Asahi whined, gripping the ends of her dress. "I never entered an art competition, so this quiet air is scarin' me!

The sophisticated air had made the second year tense. The people she had to compete with were in their school uniforms, and looking completely relaxed. For her...They told her to dress up, look cute. The other members of the art club were in a similar attire, who were completely nervous and shaking as well. If only she could simply hide in the bathroom for the rest of the judgement period, just so she could find out the results without having to worry so much.

"Why did you have to do this to us, Senpai?!" one of the first years whined. "We could've came here in our uniforms instead of this getup!"

"Right?!" another sighed.

Asahi smiled at them, feeling their pain, before hearing her phone vibrating in her purse. She quietly bowed towards them, and excused herself to go outside.

After that little 'incident' at the pool, her phone wasn't too damaged from it being thrown into the pool. However, she felt like this thing was cursed. As the blond wandered down the white hallways, her eyes looked at the pictures that passed by her, before reaching the front entrance. Before checking her phone, however, something in particular had caught the artist's eye: a large scale photo of the underwater, filled with golden jellyfishes.

Her eyes looked at the bottom of the picture seeing the name of it: _Okimoto Soumei_, her father.

Gripping her phone, the blond shoved her phone into her bag. She didn't want to see the message. Instead, she wanted to leave. Escape this suffocating place. Biting her lip, the teen began to walk out of the building without a second thought. As she walked towards the station, the Art Club president was jogging down the hallway to the lobby, looking for her.

"Okimoto-san? Okimoto-san?" he called out to her.

Behind him were two adults, a male and a female, one with amber colored eyes, the other with hazel. They both respectively had dark hair, while dressed up in stylish, business attire. As the Art Club president turned nervously to smile to the both of them, he shook his head, trying to think up of a reasonable excuse to give to the adults, as they were talking to each other.

"...She's not here," he said.

"She must be with your brother," the woman sighed, rubbing her temples towards the man. "She must be nervous, and probably ran to go look at the fishes at the aquarium,"

Shrugging, the man rolled his eyes at his wife. "Don't blame me," he noted, turning around. "We'll see her at my mother's place later today anyways,"

* * *

Holding her heels in her hand, and walking in a pair of sandals, Asahi slowly walked into the bleachers, trying to spot anyone from her school. Obviously, with her wearing this getup versus the casual summer clothing that everyone else wore, the girl simply tried to avoid the odd stares that she was getting from the spectators at the event. All she needed was to find Gou or someone she at least _knew_ and just stick with them for the rest of today.

"Ah." Asahi blinked.

She saw a group of shirts, leaning over the railing looking at the boys getting ready for the next race. From the looks of it, she can pick out her friend's long red hair, noticing her face when she began to talk to the other members of the Swim Club. A huge wave of relief came over her, however, before she called out her name...

"Makoto! Hurry it up!"

Rushing past her, was Makoto, his hair was slightly soaked. Her eyebrows furrowed, realizing that Haruka wasn't there with them. She didn't know how much she missed, or how long she took to get here...Although, she knew she had arrived there pretty late to only watch the last race of the day.

"Hm... I'm _that _late, huh," the blond remarked, as she sat nearby them with a salty look on her face.

The swimmers were already taking positions, as she casually watched them from afar. While the Swim Club were chatting amongst themselves, Nagisa glanced back to notice the pouting blond who was speculating nearby.

"Oh? Asahi-chan's here!" Nagisa remarked with a cheery look on his face, looking back at her.

"Huh? What about your Art Contest?" Gou spoke up.

"I left early to go watch you guys, and I end up coming this late. I probably got lost," she grumbled, walking down, and standing next to Makoto.

"Ready...!"

A beep was heard. Watching the swimmers quickly diving into the water, Asahi looked down in curiosity in what seems to be Haruka's lane. It felt a lot different from a glance at a television screen...Especially with the people next to her.

"Go, go, go, go, Haruka!" the coach shouted.

"Go, go, go, go, Haruka!" the others next to her chanted.

Asahi was focused on what was going on. She could easily hear the fellow Swim Club members remarking over how fast he was going over his competition. His main competition was neck and neck, before seeing them both reaching the finish line. The crowd behind them had cheered on what had went down, as Asahi's eyes quickly went to the board that had the final times.

"Haruka-senpai won!"

"The differences between their times..."

Asahi looked at the times quietly, her eyes reading over at that tiny difference between the two. She knew about Haruka being a great swimmer, especially when Gou had often remarked about them training to '_improve_'...Just the overall race felt exciting, but this end result, made her wonder about how good were the other guys.

"Hey...Why did you want to race with Haru-chan?"

Nagisa had spoken up nearby, breaking Asahi out of her train of thought. He was apparently talking to Makoto, and obviously, Asahi didn't even know that even happened between the two of them.

"I wanted to try swimming a serious race against Haru," he began. "I'm not sure why..."

Looking at Makoto, Asahi let out a brief sigh. His words sounded _quite_ familiar to her. It made her feel extremely nostalgic, hearing it come from him. Before long, Haruka and Gou's brother, Rin, were walking back together to the locker room. Asahi had sat back down onto the bleachers, waiting for the crowd to clear out, watching the clubs and spectators slowly beginning to pack up for the day.

"Hm? What's wrong, Asahi-chan?" Makoto questioned, sitting next to the thoughtful blond.

"You know," she began. "...What you said, reminds me of myself last year. Even though, I'm not a swimmer," she remarked with a smile. "But it looks like you're still not satisfied with some things, aren't you? Even I still have unfinished stuff that I left behind,"

His eyes looked at her thoughtful expression. A tiny, embarrassed look formed on his face, wondering what the girl had meant by that. Before the swimmer could reply, he watched her look up at the English teacher, who was calling for her.

"Okimoto-san! Do you need to get a ride back? Matsuoka-san will be riding with us as well," Amakata-sensei called out to her, heading towards the exit.

"A-Ah! Y-Yes, please!" she quickly shouted.

Asahi quickly rose up from her seat, nodding towards the woman. Looking at Makoto, Asahi lightly waved goodbye to him, while the swimmer returned that friendly wave. Watching her walk away from him, Makoto slowly looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.

* * *

"...Welcome home, Asahi,"

Asahi stared at the sight of her parents for a brief moment. Her mother had finished up setting the table, popping open a bottle of red wine, while her father was cooking dinner with her grandma. Biting her lip, Asahi silently muttered an 'I'm home', quickly proceeding towards her room, trying to avoid any sort of conversation between the three of them. She didn't want to think about the Art Contest, or even _art_ for that matter.

"Asahi, you know you got second place," her mother remarked looking up at her. "The judges knew you have good potential for your future,"

"...Yeah, we were looking for you earlier. Mama kept calling you earlier, where did you go?" he questioned, turning off the stove, leaving his mother to finish up with the rest.

"Don't tell me you were fooling around with boys again?" her mother questioned, approaching her while casually holding a glass of wine in her dainty hands. "You remembered what happened _last_ year? Besides, I'm still not over the fact, that you bleached your hair! You said you would _**never**_dye your hair!"

The blond could smell alcohol emitting from her mother's lips. A _terrible_ smell that made her queasy and uncomfortable to be around her. Although she knew about her mother's habits...It was only before dinner, and her mother was _drinking_. She looked away for a moment, trying to not show her disgusted face.

"...I _wasn't_ fooling around with boys," she merely replied. "I was nervous. Please understand that," she lied, quickly turning away and marching up to her room.

Entering her room, Asahi dropped her bag onto the floor. The pungent smell of alcohol was still remaining in her head. Slowly approaching her desk, she opened one of the drawers and pulled out an album. Opening it, she looked at a picture of her and Aki...with two other people_: A couple_. Pulling out that image, she looked at it for a minute before slowly tearing it apart.

Closing her eyes, she could imagine the rain pouring down on her face. Her tear-filled eyes staring up at the darkened skies.

"_You __**knew**__ it would happen, didn't you?_"

It wasn't Aki's voice that wasn't ringing in her head, it was the other man in that picture. Before she could look over at him, her phone began to ring, snapping Asahi out of her little 'flashback'.

Wandering towards her purse, the teenager fished out her smartphone to see a mail from a person named 'Noon'. Reading the contents for a moment, she let out a sigh. It was a small note that simply ended with him saying: '_Call me_'. She called the number and stood there for a bit before closing her eyes.

"...What's your plan?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

_**熱帯魚の涙**__**/ Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish**_

_**Chapter Nine**_

* * *

_For the longest time..._

_I always wondered..._

_What __**do **__I really want in life...?_

_"HAH?! Are you insane?"_

_Placing down her soda cup, a brunette woman, around her early twenties, stared at the absent-minded Asahi, while she chewed on her burger. Gently touching her shoulder, the woman began to shake her shoulder, trying to get the teenager's attention. Placing down her half-eaten food, Asahi lightly swatted the woman away with a childish pout on her face. _

_"Is it bad?" Asahi grumbled underneath her breath. "I mean, it's a good opportunity, Miicha!"_

_With her head slowly turning to stare out the window, the woman shook her head at Asahi. _

_"I know, I know. I'm just worried about you, Asahi. I don't want anything bad happening to you, if you end up overworking yourself," she said, furrowing her eyebrows. "I mean, you went to the doctor recently, didn't you? What did he say?"_

_A childish pout formed on the younger girl's face, while she kept eating her food. She kept her silence, not wanting to say anything._

_"...Don't worry about it...It's nothing bad," she retorted. "Anyways! I heard there's a show! Are we going to per-"_

_Shoving fries into the younger girl's mouth, the woman let out a long sigh, before gently tussling her kouhai's hair. They began to joke around as Asahi tried to get info out of her while the other girl was laughing at her. _

_"Don't worry about it, trust me."_

_**Knock. Knock. Knock.**_

Laying on her bed, Asahi stared at the bright blue wall before her, holding the sketchbook close to her chest. In a total daze, she laid there listening to a certain song, staring off into space for a brief moment. Although today was the day for the relay for the Swim Club, she wasn't going to watch it. After hearing what had happened yesterday, the blond had to think. What could she do for herself?

"Asahi-chan! Satomi-chan is here!" her grandmother called out.

"Okay!" the blond responded.

Putting down her sketchbook, Asahi stared at it for a brief moment. A picture of a porpoise and a pufferfish were together, facing each other. Picking up her pencil she quickly scribbled out the pufferfish before turning away to head downstairs to meet Satomi.

* * *

"They made it to the next round, huh?"

Asahi and Satomi stared at the large sign outside of the school. The dark-haired teen grimaced at the sight of it, seeing how much she failed at her track meet. She leaned on the blond who simply sighed, before noticing Satomi's boyfriend, Kazuto, approaching them from the front gate. He smiled at his girlfriend while casually nodding to Asahi, who gave him a curt nod.

"Why couldn't they acknowledge you getting second place, Hii-chan?" Satomi huffed. "I mean, that _thing_ you painted was great!"

"If we won it for the first time, probably. One of the third years got third runner up last year," the blond shrugged, walking into school.

"You know, that picture you sent me...It was a bit _different _from the others," her friend noted, slowly increasing her walking speed to a bit of a jog, trying to catch up to her best friend.

Raising an eyebrow, Asahi stopped in her place eyeing the athlete with a strange look on her face.

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"I'm not an art person or anything...But, that person in that picture, reminds me of someone we knew..." Satomi sighed. "Don't tell me you have a _crush_ on someone~!"

The blond felt her face slowly heating up before quickly smacking the other girl in the face with her bag.

"NEVER!" she screeched.

Watching Asahi quickly run off, Satomi pulled out her cell phone and looked at the picture that she sent her. Kazuto peered over her shoulder and looked at it for a brief moment. A black-haired male holding a hand while running in a field of sunflowers. A completely different entry compared to what was posted in the hallway.

After changing to her indoor shoes, Asahi had plugged in her earbuds, and music began to play in her ears. Remembering her phone call with '_Noon_', she softly began to hum along with the song, while heading to her classroom. While Satomi and Kazuto were changing into their indoor shoes, the two of them looked at Asahi, before the dark-haired girl furrowed her eyebrows in concern, wondering about her sudden change in attitude.

* * *

"Satomi-chan! Wait up!"

Turning around, Satomi looked over at Gou as she was walking home from her club, she slowed down to a stop, seeing the other girl quickly trying to catch up to her. It was a week before Regionals. Although things were settling down from the aftermath of the Preliminary rounds, practice was still going on for the sports teams, especially the Swim Club.

"Have you seen Asahi-chan lately?" the red-head questioned with slight concern in her eyes. "I haven't seen you two hanging out with each other, and she hasn't been up to the pool lately. Did you get into a fight with her?"

Scratching the back of her head, the track club member gave a tiny smile, wondering what she could say to her fellow second year. It was clear that she ran out of excuses to say to their other friends about what had happened between the two. Ever since she called out Asahi on that picture, she noticed her best friend had told her what was wrong...But still, even she was suspicious.

"...She wanted to be left alone. Ever since she got second place, Asahi seemed a bit preoccupied with something. She told me she was going to be named Vice President of the Art Club, and was going to be busy for a while...But I've noticed their meetings during lunch were short, and rarely met after school," Satomi finally explained.

Looking up at the building, the younger Matsuoka let out a long sigh.

_Meanwhile..._

Staring out into the water, Asahi held her abdomen, while standing at the end of the concrete pathway, nearby a row of boats. The sun was slowly setting over the horizon, and she was planning to practice here seeing that most of the people have gone home already. The music was playing in her ears and she was counting in her head, waiting for her cue.

_...3...2..._

Nothing came out of her mouth.

Her eyes looked down for a brief moment. Something was still wrong with her, but she didn't know what to do. Sitting down, Asahi stared out into the water and skipped the track, listening to the next song. As the song began to play, nostalgia hit the teen, looking down at the track name. It was listed as 'Untitled', with a random comment on the bottom saying, '_I'm sorry._'

嬉しさと悲しみの間を揺れている  
_I'm swaying in the midst of happiness and sadness_...

狂おしいほど  
..._To the point where it's maddening._

君に会いたい 君に会いたい  
_I want to see you, I want to see you_

_何していますか？_  
_What are you doing?_

_気分はどう？_  
_How do you feel?_

_'...This song...'_

Furrowing her eyebrows, she sat there trying to contain the tears that were forming in her eyes. While listening to the song to herself, Asahi was unaware of the pair who were approaching her. Both Makoto and Haruka were coming home from practice and happened to spot her from afar.

"..._hi-chan_...A-Asahi-chan?"

Turning around, the girl noticed Makoto, who was extending his hand out to her with a worried look on his face. Behind him, was Haruka who was casually standing there trying to not get fully 'involved' in whatever was going on. With a tears running down her face, all Asahi could do was bat her eyes, and stare at them like a deer in headlights.

"What happened?" the brunette said.

It was impossible.

She couldn't say anything to Makoto. Quickly wiping her tears away, the artist shook her head, trying to force a smile on her face.

"A-Ah...N-Nothing!" she stuttered. "I-I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"

After stumbling through her goodbye, the teen got up and quickly stormed away without a word, leaving behind her bag and cell phone. The tall male stared at Asahi's figure disappearing into the long stone stairwell behind the buildings. He looked over at her belongings that remained with him and let out a long sigh.

"I guess we'll go to her house and return this?" the brunette smiled over to Haruka, who had approached him to pick up her school bag.

Her phone had soon began to vibrate on the concrete ground. The name, '_Noon_' had appeared on the smartphone's screen. The two of them looked at it for a brief moment, debating about whether or not to answer it. Without a second thought, Haruka had picked it up and answered it, with Makoto listening in next to him, hearing a male's voice over the other line.

"_Hey, Asahi? Listen...I sort of...sent that picture you entered to that art contest to Aki.  
I know you still don't forgive him for what happened to you last year...  
...But if you drew **that**, does that mean you really still love him?_"


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

_熱帯魚の涙__**/ Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish**_

_**Chapter Ten**_

* * *

"…_Last year_? What happened, 'last year'?"

Haruka furrowed his eyebrows, and heard the male voice question this unknown voice over the other line. Plucking the phone off of his best friend's hands, Makoto had a worried look on his face, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"…_Eh…? Ah, haha. You're not Asahi, aren't you?_" the guy laughed over the phone. "_Sorry about that! I'm a friend of hers from Hiroshima…Though, that girl will tell you when she's ready,_" he remarked.

Furrowing his eyebrows, the dark-haired swimmer looked over at Makoto who was listening to the older male. For them, it might be the only opportunity to talk to him…Probably know some things about their underclassman before they return her phone.

"…Uh. Did she send you that picture she did for that art competition?" the brunette questioned.

"_Of course! She got back into art a while ago. She hated it so much when I first met her, actually,_" he remarked. "_Though, that picture she drew…It makes me worried. I know you guys sound worried about her…Heck, I'm worried about her too. But… A piece of advice: Try…to **not** fall in love with her. But, I highly doubt either one of you, will right?! I love her like a little sister, but I don't want you guys to end up feeling __**that**__ way about her and end up getting heartbroken,_"

_Beep. _

When he hung up, the two looked at each other with slight confusion on their faces. It was barely dusk, they can probably still visit her and drop off her belongings. While Makoto had kept Asahi's phone with him, he looked over at his best friend, who was clearly deep in thought over what the man had said.

"Haru?" Makoto questioned, watching the other teen pick up her bag and quietly walk past him, heading the same way where Asahi had disappeared off to. "…Is something wrong with him?"

* * *

"Ah! Oniichan!"

Taiyou was standing outside of his house conversing with his uncle. By the looks of the older male's face…They came at a bad time. He was smoking a cigarette looking at them with a deadly glare, wanting them to just leave without a word. Instead, the young boy quickly approached them with a smile on his face, ignoring his uncle's hidden warning.

"Are you here for Oneechan?" he questioned. "She's _at-_"

"If you're here for Asahi, you **_better_** deal with _me_," the man grunted. "I'm already sick of guys who hurt my niece,"

Blinking his eyes, Taiyou looked at his uncle, who threw down his cigarette and stomped on it. Already, the fierce intimidation radiating from the man had caused Makoto to freeze up, while Haruka stood there looking at him, mirroring that same look.

"She left her stuff and ran off," the dark-haired swimmer said curtly, motioning to her bag and her cell phone that the pair was holding.

Letting out a tiny hiss, the Okimoto children's uncle scratched the back of his head in frustration, before fishing out a pair of keys from the back of his jeans.

"…_That dumb girl…!_" he grumbled, before looking at the two signaling them to follow him. "Alright. Come with me. She's at my place with my wife. I entrust you two to get your business with her done and over with. Taiyou! You're coming with us,"

Taiyou looked at the two, before quietly following his uncle without a word. As the two of them followed Taiyou, they headed into the house, only to be greeted by a piano faintly playing down the hallway.

"_One more time_?"

"…_Maybe later_."

"…_Will you be okay? Shougo-san called me and said you were strug-_"

"_I'll **be** okay_!"

Emerging from the room, an older woman smiled and politely bowed towards everyone before heading into the kitchen. As the swimmers and Taiyou headed down the hallway, her uncle looked at them with a slightly concerned look on his face. Simply scratching the back of his head, the man let out a tiny grumble, wanting to follow them, before looking at his wife, who gave him a look to just leave them a look.

"Oneechan?" Taiyou questioned, knocking on the door.

Faint humming was heard from behind the door. Taiyou tried knocking on the door once more, before looking up at the two teens with a worried look on his face. Tugging on the end of Makoto's shirt, the boy looked at him, wondering if he should try getting Asahi's attention.

_**Knock. Knock.**_

"…Asahi?" Makoto spoke up.

Nothing. After a few minutes of trying, Makoto looked over to his best friend who reluctantly faced the door.

_**Knock. Knock. Knock.**_

"Asahi?" Haruka questioned, staring at the door.

The door slowly cracked open, and there appeared the blond, pulling out an earbud from her ear with music blasting from the earbud. The boy quickly hugged his older sister, while the teenager gave a loving hug to him. After that brief hug, her eyes soon focused on her upperclassmen, quickly fixing her posture.

"…Senpai," Asahi began. "I'm sorry about earlier," she continued lightly bowing to them.

"N-No! It's perfectly fine. Are you feeling better?" Makoto questioned, looking at her with slight concern.

"…Ah. Yes," she nodded shyly.

Nudging and pulling on her arm, a smile formed on Taiyou's face. "Oneechan! They brought your stuff here!"

Batting her eyes, the girl nodded to him as she slowly got out of the room. She couldn't look at either one of them.

"…Thanks," she said, cracking a tiny smile.

"Do you guys want to come to our house for dinner?" the boy said cheerfully, tugging on the swimmers' arms. "It'll be fun, since Obaachan is away visiting her friends! It'll just be me and Oneechan, that's why,"

"_DON'T INVITE THEM!_" their uncle shouted from the kitchen, causing the boy to pout.

Makoto smiled nervously at Taiyou's invitation, as he was yanked by the boy down the hallway, trying desperately to pull the taller teen towards the house, leaving Asahi and Haruka together to follow them closely behind. As Asahi and Taiyou said goodbye to their relatives, Haruka looked over to Asahi, who was deep in thought. They were alone for now and had nothing to talk about.

Looking up with him with slight curiosity, Asahi began to speak up. "...Haruka-senpai...No one called me by any chance..._Right?_"

"_Try…to not fall in love with her. I love her like a little sister, but I don't want you guys to end up feeling __**that**__ way about her and end up getting heartbroken._"

His eyebrows furrowed at the thought of that man's voice, as he muttered a brief 'No' to her. Just hearing his answer...made her feel disappointed. As she let out a long sigh, Asahi kept her silence, as Haruka looked at her suspiciously.

"Was that call important?"

Looking at him, Asahi lightly smiled at him, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"…I sent a photo of a painting I did for that contest to a friend of mine," she began. "…He texted me earlier wanting to talk to me about something really urgent involving Aki, but obviously I was busy with _that_. I don't know why he was freaking out about me sending him that painting and suddenly bring up 'Aki'," Asahi laughed.

"_...But if you drew _**_that_**_, does that mean you really still love him?_"

It felt irritating. Hearing her carefree laugh, thinking of that man's voice…Haruka's face had quickly turned dark. Asahi gently touched his arm, wondering about what was going on with him. Snatching his arm away from her, the third year began to stride away from her, despite her constant protests.

"Isn't it obvious? Aren't you still in love with Aki?" he finally spoke up, looking back at her.

Her eyes stared at him, before quietly looking away, unable to say anything. Closing her eyes, Asahi heard Haruka walking away from her once more. Somehow…It felt like her body couldn't move.

"…_Senpai, I…_" she muttered, slowly trying to go after him.

The distance between them became greater. Watching him slowly making way towards the long stairwell, Asahi forced herself to pick up the pace, hoping that she could at least say something before he was long gone. Grabbing his hand, the girl took a deep breath, calming herself down, trying to find the proper words to say to him.

"…I don't know, myself. He was my first love, but feelings change over time. Actually…I…"

_I __**like **__you._

Stopping herself from continuing on with that sentence, Asahi looked down for a moment. She couldn't _dare_ say that to him…_Could she?_

"…You?" he echoed, glancing back at her.

Quickly releasing his hand, Asahi felt her face getting hot.

"I admire you a lot more! Y-Your swimming, it's _**so cool!**_ That's all!"

Turning around and marching back to her house, Asahi was far too embarrassed to say anything else. As she passed by Makoto who was just leaving, the other swimmer looked at his confused best friend, who still had her cell phone. As her cell phone rang throughout the quiet neighborhood, Haruka looked at the smartphone in his hand, seeing the message from '_Noon_', and the image of her lock screen.

It was a picture of her painting, featuring a dark-haired merman surrounded by golden jellyfishes.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

_**熱帯魚の涙**__**/ Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish**_

**Chapter 11**

* * *

"_I admire you a lot more_!"

This was terrible. Asahi didn't ask for her phone back. She didn't want to talk to Haruka. She was in a terrible dilemma. For her…She was going to probably try to play it off and try to act as normal as possible when she sees him at school. As the blond slowly wandered towards the kitchen, she watched her brother grabbing the ingredients for the rei shabu shabu from the fridge.

"Oneechan!" Taiyou called out. "I got everything out!"

The boy smiled at her, while she returned that smile, hoping to get everything off of her mind. Opening the cabinet, and reaching for the glass, the phone suddenly rang out of nowhere, causing her to drop the glass onto the floor. As Taiyou ran to get the phone, Asahi stood there in her place, staring at the broken glass for a brief moment. Her eyes staring at it, clearly stunned and frozen by what had happened.

_Crash!_

_Standing in front of the pile broken glass, the woman glared at her husband, as he gently pushed their children to go to their respective rooms. _

"_What do you mean?!" Asuka screeched. "I __**HAD **__to pull some strings to let her in that competition this late, and she refused?! You know, if you didn't convince me to let her 'do what she wanted', she's going to hurt herself!"_

_A frown formed on Soumei's face. "Oh, please! You know, if you didn't act so __**controlling**__, she wouldn't be acting this way," her father argued. "I already convinced my protégé to help her, but you're thinking he's going to do something bad! Look at her! She's doing better in school, and she's clearly looking happier!"_

_Asuka threw the nearest book at him, sneering at him. "Oh, puh-lease! Asahi's been spending too much time with that sleazy college boy, and look what's gotten her! Whenever she's up there, she's in the back row, and barely is given any time to shine. She's considered '__**average**__', compared to her so-called 'best friend' that's going to Tokyo, along with those other girls. With __**our **__help, if __she continued pursuing art, she would be studying in Europe by now!"_

_Shaking his head at his wife, her father had enough of this conversation, leaving her to smoke out in the balcony. The woman had made use of this silence, casually drinking her wine, but by the looks on her face, she was still fuming. As Asahi wandered back into her room, locking the door behind her, the high schooler looked down at what was supposed to be her contest entry: a blank, untouched canvas. _

_For a while, Asahi stared at it, trying to force herself to draw something, only to drop her pencil and let out a long sigh. _

_**Knock. Knock. Knock.**_

_Looking up at her wall next to her bed, the girl wandered over and sat on her bed, facing the wall. Her phone vibrated, noticing she had gotten a mail from Akihiro. _

"_I heard yelling a few minutes ago, are you okay?  
-Aki"_

_Closing her eyes, Asahi slowly tapped on the wall twice, giving her so-called 'answer' to him. _

_**Knock. Knock.**_

_Leaning against the wall, the first year felt her heart tightening. Thinking about her mother's words from earlier felt extremely painful for her. Her phone soon began to vibrate, causing her to quickly pick it up without a second thought. Already, tears were in her eyes, wanting to hear Aki's voice over the phone. _

"_Hey…I know you're a strong person," Aki whispered. "Don't let her get to you,"_

"…_I…I just really want to see you right now," she cried softly._

_After a brief pause, the man let out a brief sigh._

"_I'm __**sorry**__. Not right now."_

Sweeping up the glass shards, Asahi threw it away in the trash, and wandered back to the kitchen to prepare the food. As the place had remained quiet, and Asahi not muttering a word after what had happened, Taiyou looked at his older sister with a concerned look on his face, curious about what had happened to her. He knew that something had happened when she was outside...

* * *

"Good work today, Makoto!"

Waving goodbye to Coach Sasabe, Makoto smiled brightly as he left the public pool, after finishing up his 'job' as swimming coach for the children. The sun was setting, and he was walking home alone. It was a relatively quiet walk for the time being, before he heard some faint music from down the road, with a male voice singing along.

Emerald green eyes looked at the man singing with the guitar, walking next to a familiar blond, while she was humming the same song. The man looked to be in his twenties, having light brown hair and hazel colored eyes.

"_Asahi-chan?_" Makoto whispered, noticing that she had looked back and noticed him.

"Makoto-senpai?" she spoke up, with a bright smile on her face.

Makoto froze up in his place, watching her slowly approach him. His eyes looked at the taller male, who also smiled and casually waved at him.

'_Is he…__**Aki**__?_' the swimmer thought to himself.

Noticing that he was alone, the girl eyed Makoto with a strange look on her face. "Hm? There isn't practice today, so…why are you…?" Asahi muttered.

"I'm helping out at the local pool," he quickly replied before leaning in close to her. "_Hey…Is that Aki?_"

"HAH?" she screeched, covering her face. "Why…Why would you think _**he's**_ Aki?"

After hearing Asahi's little outburst, the man let out a hearty laugh. "Ah. This sometimes happens, you know?" the man remarked, slowly approaching them after carefully putting away his guitar.

Pulling out his wallet, and plucking out his business card, the man politely bowed to the taller teen. The bright blue business card had read: '_Hiroshima Talent School, Vocal Instructor. Kuroda Shougo_ (黒田正午)'. Re-reading the kanji in Shougo's name to himself once more, Makoto looked up at the man.

"Eh, sorry, if my name looks a bit off to ya," Shougo sighed. "I was born on exactly _noon_, so they technically named me '_Noon_'. Put me next to Asahi, and you got '_Morning'_ and '_Noon'_," he joked, before feeling the girl slapping him in the arm.

"**_'Dawn'_**_is someone who has the kanji of '_**_Dawn'_**_or_**_'Daybreak'_**_in their name...They're...a very good_**_'friend'_**_of mine."_

Remembering Asahi's words, Makoto looked at Shougo, and then at Asahi. Furrowing his eyebrows, he _knew_ those nicknames on her phone really did mean something, and felt curious about asking them about it. It already a huge hint that Shougo was obviously the guy that he and Haruka had talked to on the phone the other day.

"Something the matter?" Shougo questioned, quirking an eyebrow. "Y'know, if you're Hii-chan's senpai, then you're most likely my kouhai. You can always talk to me about _anything_!" he grinned.

Asahi laughed at Shougo's remark. "Haha. But, Shougo-senpai, you were whining the other day about how the kids at the school were being mean to you," she joked.

"Well! When I transfer to Tokyo, and when you graduate and head to Tokyo, we will be unstoppable!" the man laughed proudly, not noticing the girl freezing up and looking over at Makoto.

Blinking at her, Makoto looked at Asahi questionably. "You're going to Tokyo after you graduate, Asahi-chan?"

"W-Well, it's not for a while, but I _haven't-_" she stuttered, shaking her head in denial.

"She wants to start fresh after all!" the man grinned, patting the irritated teen's shoulder.

The way things were going, Asahi was already on the verge of blowing up. Hearing Shougo mindlessly chatting away for her in front of Makoto was quickly getting on her nerves.

"…_misses being one of us!_ After all, when it's your vacation, she wants to _see-_"

Slapping his hand away, Asahi glared at Shougo. "Can you **stop** talking for me?" she growled. "I know you care about me…But, _**stop**_,"

Before the two could say anything, Asahi ran off on her own. The man looked over at Makoto while the atmosphere soon became awkward for both of them. Within minutes, they were standing there in complete silence, wondering if they should talk or just straight up leave.

Before long, Shougo scratched the back of his head, he glanced over at the third year, with a bit of curiosity.

"_Well_…If you have time, is it okay if I talked to you about something?"

* * *

The houses in the neighborhood were slowly lighting up, while the sky was turning darker by the minute, as the evening was quickly approaching. The two of them had kept their silence towards each other for the time being, taking in the silence. It wasn't before long, that Shougo had cleared his throat to get Makoto's attention. It was a strange, but at least he had _something_ to start the conversation to say the least.

"You were the one who answered Asahi's phone the other day, weren't you?" Shougo began.

Blinking at the man, the swimmer lightly scratched his cheek and nodded. "Y-Yeah," Makoto replied.

"To be honest…I thought you stole her phone," the man joked. "But..."

Looking at Shougo's sudden change in face and attitude, the brunette stopped walking and inspected him. His gray eyes stared out into the horizon, while sun slowly disappeared into the darkness.

"…Seeing you today, your face reminded me of someone I knew…" he began. "He's a kind and hard-working guy. Always took care of everyone, yet…"

"…_She doesn't deserve a guy like __**him**__."_

"…_It's __**really hard**__ to forgive him for what he's done,_" Shougo muttered to himself, before looking at Makoto. "I'm _**hoping**_ you won't turn out like him," he growled.

Watching him quietly walk off, the teen began to follow him, his face filled with confusion. As Shougo stopped to look back at him, the swimmer looked away for a moment, unable to speak. The sheer intimidation coming from the older male's face was evident: He came here for a reason and it wasn't just for a simple visit or a plain vacation to the peaceful Iwatobi.

"Kuroda-san," the teen said, holding down his ground. "Why are you even here?"

With his eyes staring down Makoto, Shougo couldn't help, but to frown at him.

"..._Because of Aki_…Both Asahi and I aren't happy with ourselves,"


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

_**熱帯魚の涙**__**/ Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish**_

_**Chapter Twelve**_

* * *

Time was running out.

"…What am I going to do?"

Already more than a nervous wreck, Asahi felt her hands shaking while she looked at the door leading towards the Swim Club room. After asking Nagisa and Rei about the whereabouts of Haruka after their club activities, she had to confront him here and now. However…

"Stupid, stupid, _stupiiiiiiiiid_," she whined, kneeling to the ground in horror. "Why am I hesitating over a _phone_?"

Opening the door after finally collecting herself, heading towards the back, the artist could hear someone still swimming. Reluctantly placing down her bag in one of the cubbies, the blond slowly cracked open the door, entering into the pool, greeted by silence. Peering over the railing, Asahi looked over at Haruka, who was peacefully floating on his back, relaxing for the time being. It gave her the chance to try and simply…strike up a friendly conversation while she was at it.

"…_H-Haruka-senpai?_"

His eyes quickly flashed opened, causing him to quickly stand up, and looked straight at her. A nervous smile formed on the girl's face, as she nodded at him.

"Uh, Senpai. I…" Asahi began.

It was difficult for her to speak. Somehow…She felt nervous. It was like that day.

_I __**like**__ you._

Why did she think of that? It was insane. All she needed was her phone, and she could just run away and live happily ever after…_**Right?**_

"…_You?_" Haruka sighed. "You're usually here when there's practice, right? You already know that Gou left for the day," he remarked, eyeing her with slight concern.

"I-It's not that!" she shouted, stomping her foot on the tiling, like a small child. "I _just _want my phone back!"

Raising an eyebrow, the dark-haired male closed his eyes and turned away from her. "You shouldn't be so attached to that thing," he stated. "…After all, all you talk about is _Aki_, and nothing keeps happening between you two,"

Marching towards the edge of the pool and kneeling down, Asahi forced a smile at him. "I don't care," she said, childishly.

Letting out a long sigh, Haruka approached her, and looked up at her. "Alright. Give me your hand," he remarked.

"…My_ hand_?" she questioned, extending out her hand to the swimmer.

Lightly holding her hand, the swimmer yanked the girl's arm, pulling her into the pool, making a huge splash. A brief silence passed before Asahi's head popped up from under the water, her hair soaked and her gold hues glaring at him, infuriated over what happened. Enough is enough, and this was probably the final straw. Her face puffed up, readying up to scream and insult the teen, but instead, Asahi turned around, slowly wading towards the ladder.

"…I'm going home," she called out.

"_Wait-_"

Grabbing her arm, Haruka saw his kouhai slowly turning around and facing him. "Senpai…" she said in a stern voice, snatching her arm away. "…I've had** enough**! If you really hate me, you could've said it to my face..."

"…Just tell me before you leave," he began, looking at her with a concerned look on his face. "…_Who_ was in that painting? That painting with the golden jellyfishes?"

Asahi quickly felt her face turning hot, realizing what he talking about. "W-Wait. Y-You saw it?" she questioned, backing away from him.

That familiar lump formed on her throat. That nervous feeling bubbling in her stomach. It was her chance to easily lie and run away again...Then again, it felt like it was her _only_ chance to say it.

"…That painting…was based off of **you**. Just that…That day…When we talked together about those jellyfishes, it made me so happy. At first, I was only in here just to get some sort of inspiration, but after seeing you swim, and being around you for this whole time…I began really liking you, Haruka-senpai,"

Already, Asahi hated to admit that most of her most recent paintings had Haruka as the dark-haired male mermaid…Especially since her contest entry had nearly won the grand prize and it was something that those two only talked about with each other. Without a second thought, Haruka gently touched Asahi's cheek and pushed away her soaked locks that hid her face. His eyes looked into hers, and his thumb grazed against her lips.

"S-Senpai?" she questioned.

On an impulse, Haruka leaned down, briefly kissing the blond on her lips. A chill ran down the blond's spine, causing her to eye at the equally embarrassed male, who quickly turned and looked away from her.

"…Sorry," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Let's go. You're going to get sick if you're going to stay here any longer."

Taking her hand into his, the swimmer helped Asahi out of the pool and led her back to the changing room. The situation felt familiar to her, except with a different person. Compared to holding Makoto's hand back then…She didn't want Haruka to let her go. Before long…She felt his hand reluctantly releasing hers, watching him shuffle through his belongings. He tossed her a fluffy towel, as Asahi reluctantly began drying her hair. Looking up, she watched the swimmer making way back outside, causing her to quickly step forward.

"…H-Haruka-senpai!" the blond stuttered, watching him turn back and look at her. "…I really don't mind! So let me stay outside with _yo-_"

"I was going to take a shower," Haruka retorted, looking at her horrified expression. "I just don't want to take advantage of you while you're like that,"

His blue eyes looked away from her once more, as he quietly threw his white sports jacket towards her. Asahi reluctantly nodded at him, hugging his jacket over her shoulders. Feeling a towel being patted on her head, the girl looked up at Haruka, feeling his arm being wrapped around her body, giving her a brief hug.

"_Let's go home together._"

* * *

The sun was setting and the two of them were walking side by side each other in silence. What could she talk about with him? Normally if she was with him, she would be bothering him, cracking a joke, or pestering him…Yet this was different. She hasn't been kissed by a guy in a while. It wasn't before long, however, that they found themselves in front of Asahi's home, much to her dismay.

"…Thanks for walking with me," she nodded.

"Asahi," Haruka began. "…See you," as he began to walk away in a haste.

'_See you,_' was that _it_?

…She wanted _**more.**_

"Senpai!" Asahi called out to him, watching him turn and look back at her.

Quietly approaching him, the blond looked at him shyly, lightly tugging on the end of his sleeve. She knew her little 'request' was probably selfish. Probably a bit much for him to do especially since they were out here. But…

"Something wrong?" he questioned, looking at her heated face.

"C-Can…" Asahi began. "…Can you** kiss** me again?"

Looking away from her, Haruka felt his cheeks turning red at her little request, unable to say anything. After a few minutes of silence, the artist blinked at him, realizing it was impossible. She was better off giving up.

"I assume it's a '_no_' then! F-Forget about it!" she chirped. "I-I'll see you at school,"

Watching her turn around, the swimmer watched his kouhai walk back towards her house. Already, it was a bit _much_ to kiss her the first time. Just thinking about doing it a second time in a row…

"_Wait_," Haruka spoke up, letting out a frustrated sigh.

Turning around, Asahi was greeted by the swimmer who closed the distance between them. Tilting her head up at him, the blond felt his lips gently kissing her forehead, causing her to laugh.

"_Really~?_" she teased.

"You didn't say where," he muttered.

Covering her mouth, Asahi continued to laugh, as she gently pushed him. "My forehead's enough," she nodded, gently waving at him.

Moving down her hand, Haruka leaned in for a firm kiss on Asahi's lips, causing his underclassman to stare at him with a stunned look on her face after they pulled apart from each other. The artist couldn't help, but to smile at him, as she looked at the tiny smile that crept up on his face.

"I'll be going now," he noted, gently touching her hand.

Holding his hand tightly, the blond playfully nudged him. "Try not to eat so much mackerel, I could taste it off of your lips," she joked, feeling his elbow gently tapping her arm. "I'm kidding!"

After he was long gone, Asahi soon entered her home and was greeted with a wrapped package addressed to her. Kneeling down and ripping open the package, the girl looked at the box which contained a new cell phone, and stared at it for a brief moment, before realizing there was a note that came with it. Letting out a long sigh, she closed her eyes, frowned at the contents of that note:

'_It's troublesome to contact you. _  
_Don't lose your phone again._  
_-Okaasan'_


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

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_**熱帯魚の涙**__**/ Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish**_

_**Chapter Thirteen**_

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"…_hi…_Hii-chan? You doing okay?"

Waving a hand in front of her face, Satomi smiled at Asahi, who was in a daze. It was lunchtime, with Asahi sitting next to Satomi, as they were casually eating their bentous outside in the courtyard with their other friends. The blond eyed the dark-haired girl who simply laughed at her.

"Hah?" she questioned.

"Don't '_Hah?_' me!" Satomi sighed. "You were sighing the whole time. Did something happen?"

Quickly shaking her head, Asahi looked at her best friend with a sheepish smile. "Nothing really. Just that _I…_"

"Ah, Asahi-chan, there you are!" Gou interrupted. "Can you come with me for a bit?"

A slightly disturbed look formed on the girl's face, quickly hiding behind Satomi. "W-What?" she muttered. "A-Are you going to kidnap me?"

"No, it's not that," the fellow second year smiled. "Though…I've noticed something. Did something happen between you and Haruka-senpai?"

Batting her eyes at her, the blond emerged from hiding. "…What do you mean?"

"I dunno. When I mentioned about going out shopping with you, Haruka-senpai's face looked up at me," the red-head remarked. "It looked like he was a bit annoyed is all,"

'…_That's because we only hung out after our clubs and never gone on an __**actual **__date_.' Asahi thought, trying to hide her slight disappointment.

"Can you at least talk to him?" she questioned. "Or at least say 'Hi' to everyone else,"

Looking at her, a reluctant smile formed on Asahi's face.

"…I can _try_,"

* * *

"Yo, Gou-chan, Asahi-chan!"

A huge smile formed on Nagisa's face, watching his fellow second years emerging from the stairwell. As Gou smiled at the other members of the Swim Team, while Asahi nodded at them, only to look away when her eyes met with Haruka's. The girls quickly sat down, with the blond sitting across from her new boyfriend, and although Gou was the one mainly talking, everyone had noticed Asahi was mainly quiet the whole time.

"Hey…Did something happen, Asahi-chan?" Nagisa questioned looking at his classmate. "You usually don't mind talking to us whenever you see us,"

"A-Ah…I'm a little out of it, sorry," Asahi smiled.

"Did you get into a bad fight with Haruka-senpai?" Rei questioned, eyeing his dark-haired upperclassman. "I know you two argue, but it's usually not _this_ bad,"

Batting his eyes, Makoto looked over at his best friend. "Wait, you got into a fight with Asahi-chan the other day?" he questioned.

"We did _no-_" "We didn't-"

"You guys should go out and apologize to each other," Nagisa interrupted, patting the both of them in the shoulder.

Both of them stared at Nagisa for a brief moment, before the dark-haired swimmer quickly grabbed Asahi's hand, pulling her towards the stairwell.

* * *

Outside near the pool, Haruka had slowed down to a stop, while Asahi looked at him questionably. Releasing her hand, the swimmer sat on the bench, motioning her sit beside him, which she obeyed. The two of them had looked up at the afternoon clouds for a brief moment in silence.

"…What are we supposed to apologize about?" the blond sighed. "Uhm. I'm sorry for going out with Gou-chan?" she nodded reluctantly.

Raising an eyebrow, Haruka let out a brief sigh. "She told you?" he questioned.

"I mean, she probably noticed you acting like that," Asahi remarked. "Even if it's with our friends..._As…As_ long as I'm going out somewhere with you, it's fine," she muttered, feeling her cheeks turning hot.

Watching her expression for a brief moment, Haruka soon leaned in and kissed her. Without a second thought, Asahi slowly moved closer to him, giving him another kiss. As they looked at each other for a brief moment, it was only a matter of seconds until Asahi was pulled onto his lap, practically straddling him. Looking down at him shyly, the blond felt the swimmer's hands touching her bare skin, underneath her shirt.

"Your hands are cold," she huffed. "Were you taking cold baths again?"

"Do you want me to put my hands somewhere else?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow, sliding his hands down her stomach and into her skirt, causing the blond to bury her face into his shoulder.

Before he could do anything else, however, the lunch bell rang, causing him to stop. "Let's head back?" the swimmer questioned, plucking the girl off of his lap, and dragging her back with him.

"E-Eh?" she questioned, trying to fix her clothes in a haste. "A-Already?"

Raising an eyebrow at her, Haruka eyed his girlfriend. "Why? Did you want stay with me a bit longer?"

Tightening her grip on his hand, a blushing Asahi slowly nodded to him, causing him to look away, mirroring her embarrassed look. As they were standing in the hallway, already on the way back to the main building, the two of them were figuring out what to do to make their 'alone time' last a bit longer. It wasn't before long, until the male looked back at Asahi.

"…What's your next class?"

* * *

「大丈夫かも」って言える気がするよ  
_I feel like I can say, "I think I'll be alright"_  
今すぐ逢いたい その笑顔に  
_I want to see you now, see your smiling face_

Slowly opening his green eyes, the man let out a long sigh. His vision felt blurry, as he blindly reached out and touched his desk for his glasses. Sitting up in his chair, the dark-haired man let out a yawn, before staring at his computer screen, that was filled with numbers, graphs, and e-mail notifications…He could get to it later, right? He pushed back his messy locks, before standing up. He had heard music from down the hallway.

Down the hallway of his home, the man followed to where the music was playing.

Cracking open the door, he watched the woman sitting on the floor looking at sheet music, while an MP3 player was plugged into the speakers playing the song.

あなたを包むすべてが やさしさで溢れるように  
_It's as if everything that surrounds you is overflowing with kindness_  
わたしは強く迷わず あなたを愛し続けるよ  
_I'll keep on loving you with all my heart, without any hesitation_  
どんなときも そばにいるよ  
_I'll always be by your side_

Closing his eyes, he pictured a dark haired girl softly singing that same song, before looking up at him with an embarrassed look. As he closed the door, he pulled out his cell phone and shuffled through his contacts, before stopping in front of Asahi's name. Slowly heading back to his tiny office, the man dialed Asahi's number before closing the door behind him.

"_This person cannot be reached at this time. Please leave your message after this beep._"

"…It's me. I know you're coming here in a few weeks, but can we meet up? I want to talk,"

Hanging up, he let out a long sigh, before looking through his phone and stopping at certain picture. A selfie with him and Asahi together, smiling.

"_Aki?_ _Are you napping again?_" a female voice questioned, as footsteps were slowly approaching his office.

Quickly pressing the lock button on his phone, Akihiro scratched the back of his head in frustration. He smiled at his fiancée, who walked into the room, looking at him questionably.

"Yeah?" he questioned.

"C'mon, we need to finalize some stuff for the reception," she smiled. "I need to call Shougo-kun. That idiot _had_ to take a vacation, but he said he wanted to perform something with the rest of the alumni, so he's running all over the place," she grumbled.

"Of course!" Akihiro smiled, before following her out of the room.

"…_I thought you __**loved **__her and __**this**__ is what happens?!"_

"…_I'm __**sorry**__."_

"_Can 'Sorry' fix what happened in the __**last hour**__? _  
_No, wait, the __**last month**__?! _

…_You __**ruined**__ her life, Aki."_


End file.
